Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop
by ifonly13
Summary: Kate Beckett was twenty-six when the biggest accident in her life occurred. Five years later, the biggest miracle happens. AU.
1. Chapter 1

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>Kate Beckett was tired of being the responsible one. She was exhausted, frankly.<p>

She had pulled herself together as quickly as possible. Pieces were shoved into place instead of being worked in slowly like they needed to be. Some of those bits were still lying on the ground, waiting for her to pick them up and fit them into her being again.

All because of that one night seven years ago. The night that still had her putting herself back together like Humpty Dumpty while simultaneously looking out for her father, making sure he didn't fall not off a wall but back into the bottle. Add to that the stress of trying to fit in at work and Kate was sure she was going to break down any day now.

Kate just wished that moment didn't feel so imminent when the anniversary of her mother's death this coming weekend. Working a double shift Tuesday into Wednesday just so she could get the days off in order to babysit her father was not exactly how most twenty-six year olds spent their weekends.

Plus, the full moon was tonight and that meant the crazies would be out in force. More paperwork for her. Another bonus to being the low woman on the totem pole.

"Hey, Beckett! You done?"

She jerked her head up from the report she had been filling out on the two women caught in a cat fight over some drunk man. They had all three been rolling around on the grass in Battery Park, yelling insults at one another. It was like a live version of Jerry Springer, according to the arresting detective who had dropped the trio off in the holding cell on the bullpen floor and headed back out into the fray, claiming he was going to grab some popcorn if that was tonight's entertainment.

"Yeah. What do you need?" she asked, signing her name on the report without looking, flipping the manila folder shut.

The Latino detective, a week newer than she, was smiling across the two desks separating them. "You call it a night. I'll pick up the last of the loony bin."

Kate wasn't going to complain. Sleep would be lovely, the only real chance she got to let herself fall into oblivion safely. She was on her feet, her heavy jacket swinging onto her shoulders before flipping her hair out from under the collar. "Thanks, dude."

"Anytime!" he called back as she jogged down the stairs.

It was freezing outside. She had been cocooned in the warmth of the precinct since six that morning when she had come in. The heat had only increased at night when the stream of people claiming to be possessed by the moon's mystical powers had started rolling into the bullpen. The temperature change was a shock to her body, but Kate huddled deeper into her coat, clenched her teeth in the cold, and headed toward where she had parked the car.

The drive at ten thirty was a little less crowded than the one at five. Kate practically had the streets to herself, minus the occasional taxi trolling for fares from people looking for sanctuary from the weather. She had some Top 40 station playing in the background as she navigated one-way streets and three lane avenues from the precinct to her building. She had to park a block away since she refused to pay for a reserved spot in the garage and all of the slots were full. Back out into the cold for the walk around the corner to her front door.

She passed the bar next to her building, conversation pouring from the place mixing with the news anchor telling New Yorkers about the deep freeze that was due tonight and tomorrow morning from the various televisions in the room. Kate hesitated, her hands in the pockets of her jacket. Oh, what the hell, she thought as she opened the door to the bar and ducked inside.

The noise was like a drumming, something Kate could feel to her bones as she weaved through the bodies to the bar. The bartender was a gruff older man who nodded when she asked for a beer, placing the bottle at her elbow with another bob of his head.

Kate really hadn't had alcohol since watching her father spiral down into self-destruction with that particular evil. But it had been seven years and Dad had been sober for three of them, on and off. She could let herself have a single beer, especially with home right next door.

Twenty minutes later, she had made a friend in a handsome man who had sidled up next to her at the bar, ordering her a vodka with a smile and the phrase "Or are you a whiskey girl?" when she glanced over at him. They had exchanged everything but names, phone numbers, and addresses over one too many rounds of drinks that had made Kate progressively more light-headed. Somewhere in her fogged-over mind, Kate knew that was a bad sign. A really bad sign. But the man, all brown hair and piercing blue eyes, had her laughing like she hadn't laughed since that night seven years ago.

So when he asked if he could walk her home, Kate's voice was slurred as she told him she lived right next door. They had stumbled from the bar after her mystery man paid for the drinks, giggling as she fumbled with the key ring to get the security door open, making sure it was closed before unlocking the vestibule door. The elevator was the better choice; Kate wasn't entirely sure she could handle walking up the three flights of stairs to the apartment and the way the man pressed her against the wall of the elevator had her curling her toes in her boots.

* * *

><p>She woke up with a headache. Not just a slight pressure behind her eyes, but a full-blown, marching band rehearsal going on in her temple. Kate groaned, rolling over and pulling the comforter over her head to block out the sun peeking through the blinds. It was a damn good thing she didn't have to work today because she didn't see herself going much further than the bathroom.<p>

A mirrored sigh had her freezing in place. Kate wrote it off as way too much alcohol playing with her brain until a heavy arm flopped out over her waist. Her naked waist. Where were her pajamas?

"Morning, beautiful."

The breath fanned out over her shoulder and Kate shivered before turning over. "No, no, no," she muttered, even that sounding far too loud. She gave the arm a shove, backing up so she was against the headboard.

Next to her was her handsome stranger, his face half-buried in her pillows as he watched her through narrowed eyes. His hair was standing up and the bit of his body she could see before it met the sheets was bare. Not a good sign at all.

"What's wrong?" he asked, rubbing his face with one hand.

"You…" Kate winced. "You are not supposed to be here."

The man shifted, running a hand down his chest. Kate had to look away from the bite mark making itself known where his neck met his shoulder, letting her head fall into her hands. He reached out to trace his fingertips over the hint of her thigh. "You said I could stay last night. It was an eventful evening."

"Which is over." She jerked away from his touch, wrapping the sheets closer around her body. "Get out. Now." The attempt to infuse some of her 'detective voice' into the situation fell flat. Kate was pretty sure she wouldn't have listened to herself.

But the body next to her did. He scooted to the edge of the bed, searching on the ground for his clothing. When he stood up, bending over to scoop up his jeans, Kate got an eyeful of a nice ass and strong legs. Both of which she had the fuzziest memories of from last night that she wished she could erase.

He dressed in silence, the only sound as he left being the click of the front door as it shut.

"Shit," she said, crawling back under the comforter to hide in the dark. The child in her hoped that if she closed her eyes, then restarted the morning, the man wouldn't be in her bed. The adult that had grown up too quickly told herself that was silly. Time to face the consequences, Katherine, that small voice whispered.

Later. She'd see what the damage was later. For now, Kate wanted to hide from the world under her blankets and sleep off the rest of this hangover.

This time, when she emerged from the darkness created around her, Kate saw that it was a little past two in the afternoon. Her head still throbbed, but not to the extent it had that morning. She placed her feet on the cold, hardwood floor and made sure she was steady before walking to the bathroom. Kate avoided the mirror, knowing the reflection would not be one she needed to remember. She ran the water in the shower hot, sticking a hand past the curtain to test the temperature before stepping into the spray.

She felt the sting of scratches and bite marks on her shoulders and back, pushed the pain back along with the guilt as she washed her hair. The soap circled down the drain. Her humiliation lingered. Not bothering to blow dry the long brown locks, she slipped into the terrycloth robe that hung on the back of the bathroom door and went to the kitchen, starting a pot of coffee. Just the smell of the liquid had her stomach settling. Kate searched out a package of Ritz crackers in her cupboard, sitting on the couch to wait for the coffee to brew.

Never again, she promised herself. Last night's events could never, ever happen again. Not with her father just getting back on his feet with Alcoholics Anonymous meetings or with her own issues that she was still working out with the department psychiatrist.

Kate Beckett did not need a messy relationship, one night stand or otherwise, right now.

* * *

><p>March was still chilly on St. Patrick's Day. Kate wasn't sure why so many people braved the biting wind to stand on the side of the road and watch old men in green walk by, but they did. And like every other cop in the city, she found herself bundled up outside with them, keeping an eye on a few of the rabble-rousers as they waved pints of green beer in the air. Just down the street, Ryan was bonding with some of the drunks over the little shamrock pin the detective had stuck on his lapel that morning in the precinct before heading out, claiming it as an homage to his own Celtic background.<p>

Kate was leaning against the brick façade of the building she had picked to stand near. She wasn't feeling one hundred percent after spending most of the morning on the floor of her bathroom. It had gotten to the point where even the cool tile wasn't soothing as she rested her head on the ground, curled into a ball in her pajamas. She had dragged herself out of the room to get dressed, still sticking to comfort over style with jeans and a cream fisherman's sweater, wrapping a deep green scarf around her neck as a nod to the holiday.

Even now, her stomach rolled a little with the smell of bangers and mash floating in the air. Kate pressed the back of her gloved hand against her mouth in an attempt to block the scent from entering her nose. It didn't help much but she mentally shook it off, needing to focus on the crowd and not her rebelling body.

"Happy St. Patty's Day, Officer!" shouted a man as he stumbled over to her, looping his arm over her shoulders and tugged her against his side. "Erin goooo…" was as far as he got before Kate ducked from under his arm and gave him a shove up against the wall she had been leaning against.

"Come on, Officer! Cut me some slack. It's St. Patty's Day."

Kate shook her head as she pulled the cuffs from the leather case on her belt, snugging them around the man's wrists. "Sorry, bud. Picked the wrong detective to snuggle with today." She pushed him toward where Ryan was standing, her stomach protesting every step until she was able to hand the man off to her co-worker to bring to a bus.

She found a relatively clean bathroom in one of the restaurants lining the street and let her stomach reject her breakfast of toast and water. Only two months in and she was already tired of this ordeal.

She had been late. Her cycle never really regulated itself, probably due to an ever-changing sleep schedule, iffy nutrition, and too much physical exertion. But two weeks late had been new. Kate had one of her friends in the medical examiner's office, a sassy woman who had lightly hazed Kate back when she was a rookie, run a blood test under the radar. She was surprised she hadn't fainted when Lanie Parish had called her a few days later to let her know she was pregnant.

Just her luck. One night stand leads to a baby.

Kate had sworn Lanie to secrecy over the phone and then in person when she had run to the morgue before work the day after. Her friend had kept that promise and Kate loved her even more for it. They hadn't known each other well before this, but Kate was fairly certain she had gained a loyal companion in the petite medical examiner.

Which is why Kate texted Lanie from the bathroom, asking Lanie to cover for Kate at the precinct with a phone call. Kate didn't see herself being overly thrilled to go back to work if she couldn't handcuff some drunk without losing her breakfast.

She poked the side of her still-flat stomach gently. "Hey, baby. Enough of this," she whispered as she got to her feet again.

The rest of the day that served as an excuse to go out and get shit-faced was spent with her father. Part of it was because she wanted to make sure he didn't give in to temptation and join in the citywide party. The other was the need to be close to him, cuddled against his side as they watched the Food Network together. Father-daughter time that had been increasing steadily as Kate found herself relying on him to guide her through this with knowledge from her mother's pregnancy.

So they watched Iron Chef America and Cupcake Wars turned up loud enough to drown out the city noises until Kate fell asleep on her father's arm like she had when she had been six years old.

* * *

><p>"She's beautiful, Katie."<p>

He turned as he reached the end of the room, keeping his arms steady as he started the walk back toward the bed. Jim Beckett held the lavender bundle expertly, the crook of his elbow supporting the head while his hands played with her feet.

Kate's eyes were closed as she rested her head on the raised back of the bed. Not asleep, but bordering on it. The sun was rising outside the window of the hospital room, silhouetting the skyline in golden red. She caught herself as her lids shut, snapping them back open and searching for her father. Her father and her daughter.

Strange. The little human nestled in the man's arms was her daughter. Hers.

Jim settled in the chair next to Kate's bed, crossing his legs at the knee as he let the baby grab his pointer finger. "What's her name?"

"Alexandra." Kate smiled, reaching a hand out to brush her fingertips over the soft blanket. "It means 'protector of men.'"

"No middle name?"

"Dad."

Jim glanced over at his daughter. "'Dad' is a weird middle name for this beauty." He turned back to his granddaughter, stroking a finger over her cheek. "Your mother is torturing you already."

Kate laughed. She had to. She was exhausted, mentally and physically, and so in love with the little girl just a foot away from her. The laughter just bubbled out of her. "You know none of us Beckett women have middle names. Tradition." If she stretched just a little further, Kate could feel the downy patch of brown hair on the baby's skull. "Dad, can you watch her for a while? I just need to take a quick nap and I'll be back to one hundred percent."

"And she's got me babysitting already as well!" Jim whispered to the sleeping girl. He freed his hand, rubbing his fingers over the back of Kate's hand. "Of course I'll watch her, Katie. Get some sleep."

He wasn't sure she heard the last part. The instant he said he would, her eyes shut with a sigh.

Jim got up, keeping Alexandra close to his chest as he walked to the window. "Hey Jo. We have a granddaughter. She gives Katie a run for her money in the looks department. Remember how pretty our Katherine was when she was born? Little Allie here might just beat her out."

In his arms, Alexandra Beckett gave a huge yawn, her tiny fist grabbing hold of Jim's shirt. Kate may have not done the baby-thing in the traditional way, but Jim made a silent vow to make sure his girls were never alone in this.

* * *

><p>Kate closed the door to her apartment with her foot. Her hands were full of bags and a single baby carrier with a pale pink blanket draped over the top to keep the light dim. As quietly as she could, she set the carrier on the floor near the couch as she ran to put away the other things.<p>

Still dressed in the loose yoga pants and huge NYPD t-shirt her father had brought to the hospital for her to change into, her hair in a messy knot at her neck, Kate shifted the blanket over the carrier and lifted the drowsy baby out of the cushions, settling her against her chest.

"Hey, Al," Kate whispered, sitting back against the couch. "We're home. It's not much. In fact, it's certainly not the place I dreamed I would be bringing my child home to. But it's ours." The baby sighed, turning her hand into Kate's body and the woman had to choke back tears. "It's you and me, baby." She lowered her nose to rub the tip over her daughter's soft forehead. "I love you so much, Al. I will always love you."


	2. Chapter 2

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

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><p>"Molly! Up! Time for school!" called Nora as she walked past her daughter's room toward the kitchen. She was used to waking up early; four years of the same routine had her body rising at six automatically. The girl normally got up when her mother's voice carried into her room, aware that if she wasn't walking into the living room in five minutes, her mother would return and not be as pleasant about waking her up.<p>

Nora started breakfast, pouring out Molly's cereal and adding milk, setting the glass of apple juice next to the bowl at the dining room table before getting her own food. Oatmeal was microwaving when Brandon came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pressing a kiss to the skin at his wife's neck, exposed by the sleep shirt she was wearing still.

"Morning, sweetheart," he murmured as he reached around her to grab the loaf of bread and untwist the plastic-covered metal wire. He had a tendency of losing them as he put them down to take out the two slices of bread for toast. This time he kept hold on the yellow tie so he could re-secure the loaf.

She smiled as she took the bowl from the microwave, giving the flakes a stir before sticking her finger into the mixture to make sure it was hot enough. "You going into work early?" she asked, scooping up some of the oatmeal and eating it, leaning her lower back against the counter.

He shrugged, taking out the orange juice to pour a glass. "Might as well. We could use the overtime and I don't mind. The office is quieter in the morning before everyone else shows up." Brandon took out the raspberry jelly and a knife, tapping the flat edge of the blade against the palm of his hand as he waited for the toast to spring up.

"Don't stay there too long tonight." Nora kissed Brandon on the lips just as the toast was finished. "Date night. My sister's going to take Molly to the movies and have a sleepover. The apartment is all ours for the night."

Brandon forgot about the toast and tugged Nora's body against his, a hand possessively on her hip as he kissed her. "Don't tempt me, woman," he whispered against her cheek as she breathed heavily.

It took her a moment to collect herself enough to check the time. "Where's Molly? It's been almost ten minutes."

Nora set the bowl of oatmeal on the kitchen island and went back down the hall to their daughter's room. "Good golly, miss Molly," she started singing, her trick to get the girl out of bed in a flash, as she turned the knob to the door. "I've missed your smiling face." Nora made the lyrics up as she strolled over to the bed and wiggled Molly's shoulder. "Good golly, miss Molly…"

Brandon was to the door in an instant when he heard Nora's scream. "Nora, darling, what's wrong?"

Nora was running past him to the bathroom, a hand over her mouth. He stepped into the room, pulling the covers back from his daughter's body. Did she change her shirt into one of Isabelle's weird black skull ones as a practical joke? It didn't take much to scare his wife, but her reaction did seem a little drastic for a little cartoon skull.

He was suddenly thankful he hadn't eaten his toast yet.

"Oh God…" he managed, choking it out as his hands fluttered over his daughter's body, unsure whether to touch her or not. "Oh my God." He settled on not, running for the phone to call the police.

* * *

><p>She was sure that some days, her body ran solely on the coffee that she picked up on her way into work. It was a dependant relationship. She needed it often more than she needed the air around her. It was certainly cleaner than the atmosphere in the city. The air she breathed in was more likely to kill her than her addiction to caffeine.<p>

Still, she pressed the heel of her palm into her eyes hoping to wake up a bit before she reached the counter to order enough caffeine to jolt an elephant awake. Nope. It was coffee or nothing for her nerves.

Kate gave her name to the barista after ordering the skinny vanilla latte, stepping back to lean against the wall with the rest of the commuters crowded into the Starbucks. She had her phone in her hand, smiling at the lock screen before typing in her password. Taken at a trip to her father's, Kate had discovered Al sleeping with Jim's new puppy curled around her daughter. The brown curls from Al's head blended with the brown spots on the English Springer Spaniel pup, the girl's bright blue eyes closed as she slept. Kate couldn't have resisted taking a picture of it, especially since Al and the dog, since named Sadie, had become fast friends. The photo behind the main screen was partially obscured by the orderly rows of apps but Kate still caught a glimpse of her daughter's beaming face from between the buttons for her e-mail and the weather. She tapped the former button lightly, scrolling down the new messages.

They ranged from reports from the medical examiner's office on current cases to a notice from Al's school about class photos next week. Kate marked the latter as important so the phone would remind her to find an outfit for Al just as the barista called her name, holding out the grande cup with a half-smile, barely making eye contact before she turned back to make the next drink in the line of cups.

Kate walked the rest of the way to the precinct since she had parked the car only a block from the building, the coffee burning her hand even through the cup and those cardboard rings designed to prevent such an event. She always laughed at the go-green quotes on them, refusing to remark on what a waste of perfectly good trees the rings were when they failed to do their one job.

She waved to the desk sergeant on her way to the stairs. She tried to make a conscious effort to take the stairs instead of the elevator though convenience usually had her pressing the button to call the lumbering car to her floor. The fact that she had gone with sneakers today instead of her heels gave her even less of an excuse. She passed the floors for Anti-Crime and Robbery, pulling the stairwell door open for Homicide while still managing to take another sip of the scalding liquid.

It was quiet. Quieter than usual. Their floor had almost constant movement as human beings always found new reasons and ways to kill one another, adding to the already lengthy list. One place where noise accompanied the action was a pair of desks near the edge of the bullpen. As she passed them, Kate snagged the baseball out of the air between the two men.

"Awww…" was joined by "Seriously, Beckett?"

She ignored both the verbal protests and puppy-dog eyes following her as she sat at her own desk. "Find something productive to do."

"Perfecting my underhand pitch is something to do." Esposito looked the most disappointed at her arrival and subsequent halting of his game of catch with Ryan. "How else am I going to successfully coach all of those girls on the youth softball team?"

"Oh, I don't know," Kate called out, placing the baseball on her desk, watching it roll to a stop at the base of a tri-fold picture frame propped against the monitor. "The same way you've taught the winning team for the past two years?"

Esposito was back to whining to Ryan about how unfair life was. Ryan looked mildly sympathetic, mostly pretending to listen as he nodded along. The photos on her desk weren't posed captures. Instead, someone had taken candids when the subjects hadn't been looking.

One from the hospital, Jim sitting on the edge of the bed, one arm around Kate's shoulders while the other was under his daughter's arm as she supported the newborn Alexandra. The middle one showed a larger group gathered around the coffee table in Kate's apartment. A cake was on the surface in front of Al as Kate held the two year old's hands as the girl blew out the candles on her birthday cake. The last was just Kate and Al. They were on the couch in the apartment, the girl sprawled out on Kate's chest. The photo managed to capture their grins and Kate knew that they had been in the middle of a tickle fight. She didn't often let her daughter win since the girl knew when her mother wasn't giving the battle her all, but that time, Kate had admitted defeat after Al had jumped and tackled Kate to the couch.

The phone rang as she tested the coffee's temperature again. It still scalded her mouth as she swallowed it. Those baristas needed to find a machine that cooled down that milk so the drinks would actually be able to be consumed after purchase. Kate hated having to wait forever to get her shot of caffeine because of the temperature.

"Beckett."

"Dispatch. Homicide at 518 East 12th Street."

Kate was writing the address on the pad of sticky notes on her desk, the phone cradled in the crook of her shoulder. "Info on the victim?"

"None. Your ETA?"

"Give me ten to fifteen. Thanks." She placed the phone back, standing as she waved the bright green piece of paper at the boys. "Come on, you two. Meet you at 518 East 12th."

Back down the stairs with her still hot coffee while Ryan and Esposito gathered their coats and keys to their car. The desk sergeant, an old ESU detective named Peters who traded in for an office job, raised a brow when she passed him again.

"Heading back out, Beckett?" Peters asked over the top of his novel.

She shrugged, risking her taste buds to take a sip of her coffee. "Looks that way." Kate paused, leaning on the desk and trying to peek at what he was reading. She saw the author before Peters jerked the book away from her. "That her new one? Any good?"

"Not bad. Getting a little sick of this whole tension between our two leads." He stuck his finger in the pages, holding his space as he sat forward. "Have you gotten around to reading it?"

Kate shook her head with a smile as she pushed back from his desk. "Seriously, Peters? I've got a girl in kindergarten. I'm lucky if I finish my reports on time. Tell me what you think of it when you're done, though. Might be able to sneak some time in to read while she's at school on my days off."

Peters told her that he would do just that as she headed back out onto the street. She jingled her keys in her pocket on the walk to her car, feeling the little keychain that Al had given her on her birthday rub against her knuckles. It was a miniature set of handcuffs and Kate had her suspicions that Ryan and Esposito had a hand in helping the five year old pick out the present. She had spent the morning pretending to cuff her daughter's fingers together with charges of being far too adorable for her own good before eating the dozen cupcakes they had made the previous evening by themselves.

The car was chilly in late November and Kate was quick to turn the heat on as high as it would go, pointing the vents at her face and hands. Gloves. Invest in some gloves, she thought as she pulled out into traffic. A taxi cab nearly clipped her bumper, then blared his horn at her, oblivious. Kate had expertly tilted her coffee cup so that none of the liquid splashed out as she had twisted the wheel to avoid the cab just as he ran the red light at the intersection. She was tempted to throw her lights on and pull the asshole over, but there was someone out there that needed her more than she wanted to ruin the driver's day.

Knowing that Broadway would be clogged with traffic thanks to the tourists and commuters, Kate went through backroads until she was able to pull onto FDR Drive and zip down the east coast of the island to the Lower East Side. She passed the United Nations with its lines of flags before Bellevue Hospital. Down Avenue C, over to East 14th so she could square the block and follow the one-way street of East 12th.

The lights of other cruisers flashed off the windows and reflective street signs even in daylight. She nosed in as close as possible, rubbing her hands one last time in front of the blasting heat before climbing out, dipping her hand into her pocket to release the keys and take her badge out. Kate clipped it onto the belt of her khaki jacket just as Esposito pulled his dark blue cruiser in behind Kate's. She waited, leaning against the hood of her car as the two men got out.

"Nice neighborhood," Ryan remarked as they started over toward the steps of the building.

Esposito reached the uniform at the door first and was giving their names and badge numbers but turned to respond. "Murderers don't discriminate, bro."

Each of them signed their name next to the uniform's neat printing before they were allowed to pass the threshold of the building with the directions to head up to the second floor, apartment D. They skirted around the crime scene technicians that were coming and going from the apartment.

The living room of the place was chaos juxtaposed against the pale blue and cream of the décor. A couple sat on the couch, the woman in the man's lap with her face pressed into his shoulder. He didn't look to be doing much better.

They passed the couple after telling one of the uniforms to let them know someone would be back to talk to them in a few minutes. The room with the most activity was halfway down the hallway, the door to the room painted a cheerful pink with white flowers handpainted on the wood. The color scheme followed inside the child's bedroom, from the walls to the bedspread that was crumpled on the ground next to the bed. Kate stepped around it as she circled the bed to stand next to Lanie.

"Who is she?" she asked, her eyes still stuck on the girl's body.

Lanie flipped up the pages on her clipboard, letting her hand brush Kate's arm, unspoken comfort between friends. "Molly Sergeant. Ten years old. Found by her mother when she didn't come out for breakfast before school."

Esposito shook his head. "Same M.O. as the others?"

"Yeah." The woman gave Kate a gentle tug to face the windows instead of the broken body on the bed. "There're signs of sexual assault, but I'll confirm that back at the morgue. Marks from strangulation, manual. This guy's a sicko, Beckett. He gets close at the end, able to watch the victims die."

Kate swallowed hard, nodding slowly as she focused on the skyline outside and not on the image of the girl. The third little girl taken from her family by this guy. Another family's life ruined. "Uh, Ryan, Esposito. You see what else you can find in the room," Kate said, turning to head back into the hallway. "I'll talk to the parents. Thanks, Lanie."

She took her notepad from her pocket, found a pen, and went into the tiny hallway to get back to the living room. Before she reached the living room, Kate took her phone out and leaned against the wall, taking a moment to remind herself that her own baby was still alive, probably coloring her another picture to put on the fridge with the rest of her artwork. Al was an artist in the making. She sighed, put the phone back in her pocket, and stepped into the living room.

"I'm Detective Kate Beckett," she said, holding a hand out to the man as she reached the couch. He carefully moved his arm from around his wife to shake.

"Brandon Sergeant. This is my wife, Nora." Nora didn't move and Kate wasn't sure the woman was even awake.

Kate perched on the edge of the oak coffee table. "I'm sorry for your loss, Mr. and Mrs. Sergeant. I just have a few questions for you if you're up to talking."

Brandon nodded stiffly, lifting his hand to stroke Nora's hair. "Uh, sure. Yeah. We can do that. I mean, Nora might not talk. She's…"

"It's fine. Just trying to get started as soon as possible." She kept her eyes on Brandon as she spoke. "What time did you get up?"

"Nora would have been up around six. She calls into Molly's room as she goes by, as a warning. Molly usually has five minutes after that to get into the kitchen for breakfast or Nora will go back and shake her awake. I heard Nora tell Molly to get up, then she would have started getting breakfast ready."

Kate glanced over into the kitchen and saw the abandoned meal. A bowl of Frosted Flakes and apple juice was next to half-eaten oatmeal. Toast was in the toaster oven, the jar of raspberry jam next to a plate. A pot of coffee hadn't been touched.

"I got up around six oh-five, probably. I had to go to work early. I'm a legal assistant at a newspaper downtown and I have a deadline coming up," Brandon explained before continuing. "When Molly didn't come out for breakfast, Nora went to wake her up. I heard her scream and, oh God, I thought Molly was playing a practical joke on her mother."

"How's that?" Kate asked, writing down the basic timeline without looking at the notebook.

"Nora hates those goth things. Skulls, weird piercings, things like that. I thought maybe Molly had talked to her friend who owns a lot of that stuff and borrowed a shirt to scare her mother with. Oh God…" he muttered, turning his head to rest his cheek against Nora's. "Our baby girl…"

Kate closed her notebook, realizing that the man had reached his limit for the moment, but flipped to the back of the leather case for the little pocket and took out a business card. "Please, give me a call if you think of anything else, Mr. Sergeant. Someone from the Twelfth will be calling you to set up an interview. Once you feel better." She got up just as Ryan and Esposito came back into the living room. "Again, we're sorry for your loss."

The woman on Brandon's lap shifted her head and Kate heard a quiet, raspy "Thank you" before Kate stepped back to join her co-workers.

They waited until they were back out in the area outside of the apartment before they spoke.

"Find anything useful?" Kate asked, going down the stairs past one of the assistant medical examiners with the long stretcher.

"Not much. Crime scene said they'd take lifts of prints, but I suspect most of them will belong to the parents, the girl, and maybe some friends. They're going to call with results when they get them." Ryan closed his own notebook as they got to the street.

Esposito opened the car door, leaned on the top. "This sucks."

Kate had to agree. It sucked a whole lot. But she just unlocked her car and got in. "Then let's catch the bastard before he does this to another family."


	3. Chapter 3

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>The coffee that she had left in her car was cold by the time she pulled into the garage that the precinct rented for officers to use. Kate debated bringing the cup up to the break room and microwaving it. It wouldn't be the same but she had paid an obscene amount of money for the latte to just toss it. So she grabbed up the cup, that silly cardboard ring she had complained about earlier utterly useless now, and left the garage for the sidewalk.<p>

Peters was still reading at the front desk, though he had progressed rather quickly to the middle of the novel from his place in the beginning when Kate had chatted with him earlier.

"Must be pretty good," she remarked.

"Yeah, it is. Wanna borrow this copy when I'm done?" he asked, taking a sip from his bottle of fruit punch with a grin.

She shook her head. "I'll get my own. I like having the whole collection. But thanks." Kate tipped the coffee cup instinctively and winced when the cold milk and espresso hit her tongue. Definitely need to re-heat this, she thought as she went back up the stairs, unwrapping her scarf from her neck and looping it over her arm as she opened the door.

Ryan and Esposito weren't back; they had mentioned something about stopping for their own coffee as an upgrade from the faux coffee the precinct must have bought stock in. Kate couldn't blame them. She dropped her scarf at her desk, unbuttoning her coat and draping it over the back of the chair before going to see what she could do with this latte. The microwave wasn't tall enough to accommodate the to-go cup so she transferred some of the liquid into her mug and used that. The rest of the coffee could be trashed.

Kate sat at the table in the break room, watching the mug revolve in the microwave. She hated this case. Over the last two weeks, three girls had been found strangled in their beds. If the pattern followed, Molly Sergeant would have been sexually assaulted before the man killed her. Lanie would let her know by the end of the day, tomorrow at the latest, if that was the case.

The microwave beeped and Kate tested the temperature of the coffee by sticking her pointer finger into the milky brown liquid. It wasn't hot, but it was better than nothing and Kate didn't have the patience to continue waiting. She sipped at it as she went back to her desk.

The board was getting crowded. There was nothing more that she wanted than to be able to put all of the photos and reports and bits of evidence into a banker's box and hand it over to the district attorney. Not yet, though. Molly and the two other girls needed the assurance of a conviction almost as much as Kate needed it.

Kate set the coffee mug down to pick up the whiteboard marker and start filling in Molly's basic information in a corner of the board that remained blank. They didn't have a photo of the girl yet, so Kate left a spot for it next to the age and description of her. The other two had completely different appearances and age ranges. Jenna had a mess of black curls and warm brown eyes, a second grader. Olivia, the girl in sixth grade, was all blonde hair and blue eyes. Molly's red hair and green eyes stood out and she was only in fifth grade. The man didn't have a set type he went for, making the search even more difficult.

She was pulling her hand through her hair when the boys stepped off the elevator with coffee cups in their hands. Kate leaned her lower back against the side of her desk, tapping the whiteboard marker on her chin, her eyes scanning the board in the hopes that something, anything, would jump out at her.

"Got anything yet, Beckett?"

She shook her head at Ryan's question. "Still searching. Hopefully the lab reports will give us something else to go off of." Kate sat heavily in her chair, opening the inter-department site and checking to see if by some minor miracle, the crime scene techs had processed the findings from the scene. Nope. She knew they were backlogged, as always, and that it might be a day until she got that message with the results.

Lanie wouldn't have started the autopsy yet, so a trip to the medical examiner's office would be pointless.

"Okay, so all three of the girls lived in the same area," she started, crossing her legs and leaning on them as she sat forward, waving the marker at the board. "Lower East Side. Maybe their parents brought them to play at the same park."

"Or went to the same after-school organizations," added Esposito. When Kate glanced over at him, he shrugged. "Does Alex go to some clubs or something after she gets out of school?"

Kate nodded slowly. "You're right, though I think I've told you about her name."

"She likes it. Besides, you should have expected it to pop up at some point." Esposito drank another sip of his coffee, watching Kate over the rim. "When do I get to see the heartbreaker next?"

"Never if you keep calling her Alex," Kate shot back. "Sooth your wounds over the fact you'll never see her again by checking with Parks and Rec about local parks on the Lower East Side. Make up a list and we'll start a canvass."

Esposito rolled his eyes with a grin as he sat and turned to face his computer monitor.

Ryan blinked between his partner and his co-worker. "Do I get to see Al?"

"Of course," she said with a shrug. "Why don't you take the after-school activities, Ryan. See if we can talk to some of the coordinators or whoever. I'm going to go bother Lanie about the autopsy. Call me with any updates."

She downed the rest of her coffee, not wanting to waste the tiny bit she had salvaged, before putting her coat back on and heading out. Kate didn't bother chatting with Peters as she went by this time. She did notice he was a little further in. She vowed to carve out the time to start the book; it was obviously pretty good for the man to be flying through it the way he was.

The medical examiner's office was housed across the city, but traffic had decreased from rush hour and made the drive easier. She was stopped at a red light when she hit the power button on the radio and burst out laughing when one of Al's CDs started playing, sending the music from Winnie the Pooh into the car. She didn't change over to the radio, but let herself hear "Heffolumps and Woozles" for the thousandth time as she traversed the city.

The theme song for the show about the bear and his forest friends was stuck in her head and Kate found herself humming it as she walked through the lobby of the office.

"Willy nilly silly old bear," she sang as she opened the door to the autopsy suite.

Lanie looked up from her desk, swinging her feet down from where they were perched on the corner. "Girl, you have been spending too much time in Disney movies."

"Can't really help it. Al loves Winnie the Pooh. They sort of get engrained in your brain." Kate picked out a Skittle from the bowl on her friend's desk, popping it into her mouth. "She misses you, you know."

"Miss my little chica, too. I'll just have to kidnap her so we can spend time together," Lanie decided. "Now, what brings you down here? Because I haven't started the autopsy yet."

"Maybe I missed your sparkling personality. Oh, no. That's not it," Kate joked as Lanie gave her a shove. "I was hoping to pester you to get started." She turned to walk across the room, pulling her hair over her shoulder and playing with the dead ends she had been procrastinating cutting off. "They get to me, Lanie. These three especially."

Lanie scooped up a handful of the Skittles and got up to hand half to her friend. "I know, sweetie. I'll start right now. The drug addict I got yesterday can wait until tomorrow."

She was surprised when Kate grabbed her up in a tight hug. Lanie squeezed back until Kate released her to eat a few of the candies.

"Thanks, Lanie. Seriously, I'll owe you."

"You don't owe me anything except a girl's night with Al. I haven't seen Beauty and the Beast in years."

"Al could probably recite it line-for-line if you wanted. Along with the voices." Kate shook her head but the smile that took over whenever her daughter was mentioned in conversation. "Between her drawings and the mini-production she puts on when a Disney movie is on, that girl is headed toward starving artist or starving actress as a career."

"Whatever she chooses, I know you'll support her," Lanie said, taking gloves from one of the boxes along the wall. "Mind if I bring the popcorn and juice, you provide the child and movies tonight?"

Kate hesitated. "I want to finish this case. Might be better to hold off until-"

"Uh huh, girl. Tonight, say around five, I will be showing up at your doorstep with my friends Orville and Welch expecting to see my goddaughter singing 'Be Our Guest' to me. No excuses." Lanie didn't pull the white sheet back on the girl yet, not while Kate was still standing there. "I need the break as much as you do and I want to see Al. Now shoo so I can get you some results to nail the bastard before our date."

Kate left, eating the Skittles from her hand as she went. Lanie was right; she needed the time to unwind and watching Disney movies with her daughter and best friend was the perfect solution. Hopefully they'd be further on the case by the time the three of them curled up in their pajamas on Kate's couch tonight which would dramatically ease Kate's mind about the whole situation.

* * *

><p>She parked outside of the school, right along the edge of the curb near the playground. Some parents stayed in their cars, in the heat and comfort, and waited for their children to run over to the back door and climb in.<p>

Kate was different. She huddled into her coat, pulled her scarf a little tighter, and braved the wind to walk over to the entrance to the school. There were a few other parents gathered at the doors, but Kate stopped just short of the crowd to lean against the fence separating the street from the playground. It was their meeting spot, the one place Al knew to look for her mother.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket and Kate dipped her hand in to take it out. A message from Ryan about the canvass of the parks near Molly's apartment that had come up with two people who had seen someone talking to the girl. He also mentioned that Esposito found something about the after-school idea and would relay it tomorrow when she got to the precinct. Kate was typing out a response when something hit her leg.

She looked down and saw the head full of brown curls pressed to her thigh. Kate sent the message and then reached down to ruffle the curls. "Hey, Al!"

The girl jerked away, running her hand over her hair. "Mom, you keep ruining my hair!"

"Well then, I guess braiding it after painting our toenails with Lanie tonight will have to be postponed. Wouldn't want to ruin your do," Kate said with a poker face as she took Al's hand and started back toward the car.

"Lanie's coming over?" Alexandra Beckett practically bounced her way to the car, opening the back door to toss her backpack in before running to the passenger seat, leaning on the console toward Kate's seat. "Mom, keep messing up my hair!"

Kate laughed, tucking a stray strand behind Al's ear before putting the car into gear. "No need. Lanie demanded a girl's night."

Al kicked at the dashboard in excitement until Kate shot a glare at her and her feet stilled. "Does this mean I can stay up?"

"Only until the movie is over and the popcorn is eaten," Kate said, turning down their street and searching for a parking spot along the side of the road. A car up ahead was pulling out of their spot and Kate parallel parked in a single try. "Even without school tomorrow, you don't need to be staying up too late."

The girl had long ago learned not to argue with her mother. The woman knew all the tricks in the book and knew how to take away certain privileges that had Al whining for days on end. Al got out of the car as Kate twisted to get the backpack from the backseat as well as her own bag of files from work. Lanie would scold her for bringing work home, but she needed the comfort of having the information nearby if something struck her.

Al slipped her hand into Kate's for the walk from the car to the front door of the apartment building. "What movie are we going to watch?"

"I think Lanie's looking forward to hearing you sing 'Be Our Guest' tonight. But I think we could do any of the princesses if you wanted." Kate found her keys, dangling them in front of Al's face and watching her blue eyes light up.

"You have my keychain!"

Kate tapped Al's nose as she unlocked the first door. "Uh, duh. Need it if there are any mice out there committing crimes." She herded Al into the vestibule before unlocking the second door to the lobby. "But before we do movie night, we need dinner. What're you feeling?"

"Pizza!" the girl exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air with a grin as they went up the stairs. "It's the only good movie night dinner."

"Salad first, pizza after."

"Deal."

Kate opened the door to the apartment, flipped the light on for the hallway even as Al barreled down it in the dark for her room. "You want a snack or you going to hold out for dinner?"

Her head popped out from her room. "Do we have apples left?"

"I'll cut one up for you." Kate dropped Al's backpack next to the dining room table, bringing her bag into the office to leave against the desk. No telling if she'd get to look at the files tonight, but better safe than sorry. She stopped in her room to take her gun out of the holster and lock it in the safe in her drawer. Kate took off her sneakers and tossed them into her closet, deciding to change out of her work clothes after getting Al's snack. Pajamas would be more comfortable than trousers and a button-up.

Al was sitting on the ground next to the DVD shelf, thumbing through the collection of Disney movies. She was in her pajamas, her hair in a messy ponytail that was off-center and already falling out of the elastic.

Kate found two apples that didn't look too bad and cut them up into wedges. "Peanut butter or are we eating these straight?"

"Peanut butter!" she exclaimed, a DVD in either hand. Looked like the competition was between Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King. Al was biting her lower lip, a habit she had certainly picked up from her mother, as she studied the DVD cases. It was endearing and a little creepy. Minus the blue eyes, Al was a carbon copy of Kate.

With the bowl of apple wedges in one hand and a little bowl of peanut butter in the other, Kate sat on the couch. "Here we are."

Al spun on her butt, placing the two cases on the coffee table and grabbing up an apple wedge, pulling it through the peanut butter before biting into it. Kate took a piece of apple and crunched into it, sitting back into the cushions. Al scrambled to her feet to flop on the couch next to her, her head in Kate's lap as she looked up at her mother.

"Are Espo and Ryan coming too?"

Kate gave Al a little shove off her lap, twisting her finger so the girl turned. She pulled the hair elastic out to fix her ponytail. "What part of 'girl's night' includes the boys, Al?"

"Right."

"Besides, Espo isn't allowed to see you anymore," Kate remarked as she ran her hand through the curls before separating it into three sections to braid.

"What? Why?" Al asked, trying to turn her head but failing when Kate gave her hair a gentle tug.

She shrugged. "He called you Alex today."

Al pouted as Kate braided her hair, securing the plait at the bottom with the elastic. Some of the strands were shorter than others and stuck out in the middle of the braid. Kate tried to tuck some of them back into order, but gave up. "I don't mind!"

"Yes, well, I hope you enjoyed his last visit. I'm getting a restraining order and everything."

"Mom!" Al said, twisting to face Kate with a face that looked oddly familiar. Another thing the girl was picking up. "That's not a good use of police resources. You wouldn't do it."

Goodness, the girl had a grip of protocol. Kate had to be more careful about things she mentioned around her daughter. "Guess we'll just have to wait and find out, won't we?" she said as she got up to get the phone to call in the pizza order.


	4. Chapter 4

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>Kate called up their favorite pizza shop, ordering their usual medium pepperoni, being told it would be there in ten minutes. Then, with the last piece of apple in her mouth, Kate went into her bedroom to change. What she wanted to do was fall into bed for a nap before the pizza showed up followed by the whirlwind of Lanie. The woman would want to chat after Al went to bed and Kate didn't really mind that part of it. She liked her friendship with the medical examiner who had been there for her every step of the way over the past five years. However, Kate figured it was probably not a good idea that she was getting so little sleep with this case; when she was tired, she never had the ability to fight back the nightmares that sometimes chased her.<p>

She stripped out of her light grey trousers and unbuttoned the pale pink button-up, searching the messed-up comforter and sheets for her pajamas. She really needed to get on that 'teach by example' thing with the whole idea of making your bed in the morning. Sometimes she just didn't have the time to fold all of her sheets into order when she knew the boys were waiting for her at a scene or she was running late to get Al to school. Kate located her too-big grey-green shirt with the neckline that hung off her shoulder, slipping it on before continuing the search for the leggings.

"Mom! Door!"

Unable to find the holey black leggings but swearing that she would locate them before she went to bed, Kate pulled on the sweatpants that hung over the closet door as she went to get her wallet from her purse. Al knew she shouldn't answer the door; she was too short to see through the peephole and Kate had pounded in the dangers of opening the door when you didn't know who was on the other side.

Kate herself checked to see who was waiting in the hall. A pimply boy was shifting from foot to foot, one hand in his pocket, the other holding up the box of pizza. She opened the door, handing the boy the money and taking the box back into the apartment with her.

"Come on, Al. Dinner." She placed the box on the table, going to take down plates before getting water from the filtered tap. If Al was going to be drinking juice while watching the movies tonight, the less sugar she got prior, the better.

The girl climbed into her seat, waiting until Kate brought over the bowls of salad, forks, and the drinks before violently stabbing her lettuce. Kate plated up pizza, setting it next to Al's salad for when she finished the mixed greens that Al had drowned in Italian dressing.

Kate waved her forkful of salad at Al. "What did you do at school today?"

"We did math," Al replied with a wrinkle of her nose. "I don't like math."

"Me neither. But math's important. You need to pay attention and make sure you know how to add and subtract."

Al pushed a strand of hair behind her ear with an exasperated sigh. "But I want to draw, not do icky math problems." She still stuck the last piece of lettuce into her mouth, chewing on it with a pout on her face.

"Sometimes we have to do things we don't enjoy." Kate gave Al's plate of pizza a little push toward her as the girl moved her salad bowl away. "That's life."

"Really?" The girl ran her finger along the edge of the plate. "What don't you like to do?"

"Eat salad in order to have pizza," Kate whispered as if sharing the biggest secret in the world before biting into her own slice of pepperoni. "Now eat up before Lanie gets here and steals our food."

That had Al eating, though Kate suspected it was due more to the reminder that her friend would be coming over and spending the evening watching movies with her and eating popcorn and laughing at her bad jokes.

Fifteen minutes later as Al was changing into different pajamas, having decided that her first pair wouldn't cut it for the girl's night, there was a knock at the door. Kate unfolded herself from the couch and went to check who was outside. All she saw was a box of microwavable popcorn held up to the peephole.

Kate rolled her eyes as she opened the door to Lanie, who blew past her, shoving the popcorn into Kate's arms.

"Where's my little chica?" she called, unwrapping her scarf as she walked into the living room.

"Lanie!" answered Al's voice from her bedroom. The girl emerged, hopping on one foot as she pulled her sweatpants on, her shirt only on one arm. Her brown hair was escaping from her braid as Al ran down the hall to attach herself to Lanie's legs. "You bring popcorn?"

The medical examiner shook the girl off her legs enough to walk over to the couch and flop down. Al mirrored the movement, falling across Lanie's lap. "Duh. How else does one have a movie night? What do you think I am, a newbie at this?"

Kate placed the popcorn on the table, reaching over the couch back to tweak her daughter's nose. "Go finish getting ready for tonight. Lanie'll still be here when you really get your shirt on."

Al rolled off the couch and dashed back down the hall, using the doorframe to her room to swing in.

Lanie turned on the couch, resting her chin on the cushions and crossing her arms. "You doing okay?"

She didn't need to clarify; Kate knew what her friend was talking about. She shrugged. "Okay. We can talk after the movies. She doesn't need to hear all the gruesome details while we watch The Lion King."

"Lion King? Been a while since I've seen that," Lanie mused, untying her shoes and toeing them off under the coffee table.

Kate shrugged. "Either that or Beauty and the Beast. Last I checked, she still hadn't come to a definite decision. You bring juice so my daughter will be off-the-wall all night?"

Lanie held up a plastic bag. "Apple juice and some white grape and peach concoction that sounded decent. Not sure if Al is adventurous with stuff like that, so I figured apple was basic enough in case."

"Al will try anything at least once." She took the offered bag and brought it over to the fridge, storing the bottles in the crowded shelves. "Any results from the…" Kate shook her head. "Nevermind. After the movie night."

Her friend pushed up from the couch, walking into the kitchen to flip the end of Kate's hair. "Preserving innocence. We'll wait until she's asleep, but there's some good news."

"Tease," Kate muttered as she took a bag of popcorn out of the plastic wrapper and tossed it into the microwave. "Can't just drop news like that on me without being able to elaborate."

Al reappeared, fully dressed this time in grey sweatpants and a dark blue NYPD shirt that Kate had brought home for the girl as a birthday present. Her hair was a mess now, the majority of it completely free from the hair elastic. Strands curled wildly around her face and she pushed them back repeatedly as each time they sprang back against her cheeks and into her eyes.

"Movie time now?" she asked as she slid into the kitchen on fluffy purple socks.

Lanie nodded toward the TV. "What're we watching tonight, girlie?" She glanced at Kate who just nibbled her lower lip as she punched in the time for the popcorn. They'd talk later. For now, childhood movies would reign in the apartment. Lanie followed Al over to the couch where the girl held up the two DVD cases and began debating the merits of one over the other.

Kate caught the argument that Beauty and the Beast would be the best choice since there isn't a completely heart-wrenching death in that movie. Mufasa's death, after all, still manages to make Kate cry like she was Al's age. As the popcorn exploded in the microwave, Kate pulled out glasses from the cupboards and took out the juice that Lanie had brought over.

"Al, what do you want, apple juice or," she paused, reading the label on the exotic mixture Lanie had decided on, "white grape peach?"

Brown hair peeked over the top of the couch. "I'll try the peach one."

Kate poured it out, mouthing "I told you so" at Lanie who shrugged. "What do you want, Lanie?"

"I'll have what she's having," she said before Al tugged her arm to talk leading women. Nala got points off for being a lion while Belle was clearly ahead in the polls as a book lover. Lanie grinned at the latter point; this girl was definitely Kate Beckett's daughter to the bone.

The popcorn was done from the incessant beeping from the microwave. Kate took the bag out, ripped open the top and set it on the counter to cool off before she emptied it into the huge porcelain bowl. Balancing the three cups of juice, she set them down carefully on the coffee table, grabbing the elastic band from Al's hair just as it fell out, the hair accessory giving up on containing the curls.

"Pick one, Al, so we can get it started."

The girl waved Beauty and the Beast in the air. "I declare Belle the winner!" Al tried to hand the case to Kate who pointed at Lanie.

"Have Lanie put it in and get us to the main menu. I'll grab the popcorn."

Lanie was sitting cross-legged in front of the media system, popping the DVD from the plastic circle and waiting for the drive to open. Kate not only carried the popcorn bowl over after drizzling the kernels with more butter, but slipped her phone into the pocket of her sweatpants. She wasn't on-call tonight, but she wanted it near her in case Ryan or Esposito found something to break open this case.

With the menu navigated and the narrator introducing the prologue of the story, the three girls cuddled up on the couch, Al in the middle of the older two, the bowl of popcorn on her lap.

Movie nights didn't happen often. It was rare that Kate and Lanie's nights off lined up. Even rarer that Al had a day off from school thanks to a teacher development day. Tonight was a minor miracle and Kate was grateful for Lanie's insistence that they take the time to just hang out. This case was wearing her out fast and the ability to just sit with Al and see, hear, feel that her little girl was alive. She ran her fingertips along Al's neck, giggling as her daughter squirmed over toward Lanie in an attempt to escape the tickling.

"Mom!" Al turned sharp blue eyes on Kate, crossing her arms. "Stop. Watch the movie."

Lanie was barely stifling a burst of laughter as Kate just blinked, her mouth hanging open a little. By the time she had recollected her thoughts, Al had returned her attention to the television as Belle rode Philippe through the forest to the gates of the Beast's castle.

Goodness, she really was her daughter. No wonder she had Ryan and Esposito under her thumb.

By the time Beast and Belle were waltzing around the ballroom, Belle in that gorgeous golden dress that Al still wanted to wear as a Halloween costume this year, the girl was slumped against Lanie's side, fast asleep. Lanie had an arm around Al, holding onto the porcelain popcorn bowl so it didn't tumble out of the girl's lap and spill the unpopped kernels across the ground.

"Time to get her to a real bed?" Lanie asked, not moving her eyes from the scene on the TV. Kate sensed that Lanie was more enthralled with the movie than Al would be at her thousandth re-watch. The girl knew the story forwards, backwards, and sideways so she had fallen into unconsciousness pretty quickly.

Kate shifted, getting up off the couch without disturbing the sleeping child. "I'll get her. Grab the bowl."

After Lanie safely transferred the bowl to the coffee table, Kate scooped Al up. The girl's head plopped onto Kate's shoulder, her hands winding around her neck as Kate carried her daughter down the hall with the promise of returning to help clean up the living room.

As soon as Kate set Al down on her bed, the girl stirred. "Mom, I wanna say bye to Lanie."

"You can give her a call tomorrow afternoon and talk for a while, okay? Time for bed now."

Al's response was a sleepy "okay" before she rolled over and buried her face into her pillow. Kate pulled the sheets and comforter up to her shoulders, running a hand over her head, leaning down to press a kiss to Al's cheek.

"Love you, sweet girl," she whispered, turning off the lights and closing the door until it was only cracked open, the pale light from the night light filtering into the hallway.

Lanie had the empty bowl over in the sink, washing it out with a sponge, her hands covered in soapy water. The villagers were planning on hunting down the Beast on-screen as Kate gathered up the glasses from the coffee table and brought them over to the sink.

"You didn't need to clean," she said, finding the extra sponge to work on the juice glasses. She dunked the first under the stream of water, then added a dot of dishwashing soap before running the sponge around inside the glass.

"Nonsense." Lanie found a dish towel and started drying the bowl. "Besides, you did let me spend time with the most charming person I know. And I'm not speaking of you, Kate."

"You keep that up and you'll have to turn to Esposito for comfort as you'll both be denied visiting privileges," Kate replied, snatching the towel from her friend to dry the first glass. "Al wanted to say goodbye. I told her she could call you tomorrow afternoon to chat a little, if that works with you."

Lanie stretched up on her toes to place the bowl back in its place. "Empty threat, Miss Beckett. You know that girl loves me. She'd make your life miserable if she couldn't see me." She took up the second glass and began washing it. "And of course she can call me. I'll make time."

"Speaking of making time," Kate said, taking the last cup to wash. "Want to tell me the good news about this case?"

"Finish washing the cup and we'll talk on the couch, okay?"

They sat down in much the same positions as they had been minus the sleeping girl between them. Kate had her legs crossed, facing Lanie as her friend twisted her hands in her lap.

"I did the autopsy after you left. She was strangled; there was petechial hemorrhaging in her eyes and her hyoid bone was broken. He got up close and personal with her since there were finger-shaped bruises on her neck, some on her arms from where he maybe held her down." Lanie spoke slowly, relaying the information.

"None of that sounds like good news, Lanie," Kate said quietly.

"Good news is that he didn't sexually assault Molly." That had Kate blinking, her head tilting to the side. "No signs of any sexual trauma."

Kate pushed off the couch, pacing around the coffee table. Beast was dying, Belle was crying over his body, and Mrs. Potts and crew were watching from under the table with the enchanted rose. If only people in the real world could be brought back to life with the power of love.

"Why would that be?" she mused, turning back from the windows and crossing her arms. "What was special or different about Molly?"

"Could be that he was interrupted and had to skip a step," tossed out Lanie as she perched her feet on the coffee table.

"That might play. Ryan said he has something and that Esposito might as well. We'll see what they have from their canvass and try to figure out if our guy got his timeline wrong with Molly." Kate sat back on the couch with a sigh, tugging her hand through her hair, reminding herself to take a shower as soon as Lanie left. "So, how'd your date with what's-his-name go?"

The other woman rolled her eyes. "Ha. There won't be a second date, let's just go with that. Wouldn't stop talking about himself, about his life, about his job. I mean, I'm not asking for a microphone and my own personal stage, but a few questions about me would be nice."

"Lanie, we're destined to remain single. You, the girl that spends her days cutting up bodies and me, the homicide detective with far too much personal baggage."

"Least you have the adorable daughter," Lanie replied, examining her chipped toenails.

Kate gave her a shove on her shoulder, knocking her off-balance and having her feet fall to the ground. "Because we all know how she came about was the best possible way to have a child."

"Oh sweetie…"

She shook her head. "It's fine, Lanie. May not have been my best decision, but I'm glad she's here. We can remain the three single Musketeers, watching Disney and eating popcorn with strange peach grape juice."

"Sounds like a plan," Lanie said, getting up and finding her shoes that she had kicked off when she first arrived. "I hope you find this bastard, Kate. I can't help but think of Al whenever we walk into one of those scenes."

Kate got up as well, leaning her hip against the couch as Lanie swung her coat on. "She's spending tomorrow with my dad. He and Sadie will keep an eye on her while we get this psycho."

They hugged, Kate squeezing Lanie a little tighter than usual. "Thanks for coming over, Lanie. I know Al loves these nights."

"I like hanging with her, too. You're not such bad company either." Kate punched her friend again with a smile. "I'll see you tomorrow, I'm sure."

Kate turned off the DVD as the now-human Beast and Belle waltzed during the end scene. As she walked past Al's room, she stuck her head into the door to make sure the girl was out cold. The breathing bundle of blankets told her Al was very much asleep, so Kate checked that the windows were locked and the curtains closed before she closed the door and went to take a shower before going to bed herself. Nights like this, she wanted Al to come curl up in Kate's big bed just to know the girl was safe. Completely overprotective, she told herself as she tried to dry her hair with the towel enough that it wouldn't soak her pillowcase, but the urge didn't go away even as she slipped under the covers, her feet tangling with the missing pair of leggings that had managed to sneak to the very bottom of the bed.


	5. Chapter 5

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>Kate had to dig herself out from under her pile of blankets to turn off her alarm clock. It took a few tries, her hand missing the right button on the top of the clock. The temptation to just stay in the cocoon of warmth was whispering in her ear, but she fought back the urge to hide her eyes in her pillow by swinging her legs out from the sheets. She winced when they hit the chilly hardwood floor as she vowed once again to find a rug to put there.<p>

She scraped her hair back into a ponytail, the strands waving from sleeping on them while they were still damp. Her toes curled against the floor as she brushed her teeth. She could hear movement from Al's room; the girl was probably up since she actually liked mornings.

"Mom!"

With the toothbrush still in her mouth, she called back, "What?"

"Your phone is ringing." Al appeared in the doorway holding Kate's cell. The girl looked sleepy still, but Kate knew she would take a nap when she was over Jim's.

Spitting into the sink, Kate took the phone and glanced at the caller ID. Her father. She hit the button to answer the call, cradling the phone against her shoulder. "Hey Dad."

"Hey, sweetie. Just letting you know I'm on my way over to pick up little Miss Allie."

Kate shifted the phone so the mouthpiece was further from her mouth to whisper to her daughter, "Go get dressed, Al. I'll get breakfast before Grandpa gets here."

Al ran out of the room calling back that she wanted Pop-Tarts.

"She'll be ready. You bringing Sadie with you?" Kate asked, dancing on one foot as she tried to take her sweatpants off while still balancing the phone. A pair of black trousers was pulled from her drawer, tossed onto the unmade bed as she kicked off the sweatpants.

"No. Sadie's at home, searching the apartment so it's safe for our favorite granddaughter. Plus, cabbies don't exactly like dogs in their backseat."

Kate heard the blaring of a horn through the phone before a string of curses from who she assumed was the cab driver. "Dad, she's your only granddaughter." She switched over to speakerphone, placing the cell on the bureau as she pulled on the black pants and buttoned them.

"All the more reason to love her, Katie. I'll be at your place in five and I expect to see my girls' smiling faces when you answer the door."

"Of course, Dad. See you in five."

Kate let him hang up as she scanned her closet for a shirt. She pulled down a light grey v-neck sweater and switched her sleep shirt for it. Barefoot, she went to put Al's Pop-Tarts in the toaster oven and pour out a glass of milk, setting it at the girl's place on the dining room table. She started the coffee machine, waiting to hear the clunking that told her it was really on. There had been a few mornings where she had been coffee-less for the ride into the precinct because the machine had teased her.

As she passed back to her room to find shoes, Kate glanced into Al's room. Half of her closet was on her neatly made bed and Al was only wearing a pair of jeans.

"You going to put a shirt on?" she asked with a smile.

"I can't decide which one!" Al was holding up two different shirts. One was purple, long-sleeved with sparkly white butterflies on it. The other was a black sweater but Al had a black, white, and grey floral scarf held up with it.

Knowing Sadie, the dog would shed like crazy after the two rolled around her father's apartment. The black sweater, which being Kate's first choice, would be coated with dog fur in an instant. "Purple."

Al already had the shirt halfway over her head. "Thanks, Mom!"

"No problem, kid," she replied, moving back down the hall. "Breakfast's in the toaster."

Kate figured she should probably should admit to a shoe obsession at this point. The floor of her closet and a good part of the floor directly outside the doors was covered with shoes. Kate kicked a few around to uncover more with a sigh. Yes, definitely a problem. Who needed this many shoes? Kate decided that she did as she bent down to pick up a pair of dark grey heels and carried them out to the living room.

Al was at the table, breaking her Pop-Tart in half.

"Grandpa's on his way over," she said, sitting at her own spot after pouring coffee. "Sadie's at home waiting for you."

The girl barely contained her dance of happiness, the halved Pop-Tart still in her hand. "I get to stay with Sadie all day!"

"Until tonight when I pick you up, you are all Sadie's."

Someone rapped on the door and Al turned in her chair as she bit into the pastry with a grin. "Grandpa?"

"Let's find out," Kate said, taking her coffee cup over to the door. "Looks that way."

She opened the door to Jim Beckett who quickly pulled his daughter into a hug. "Hey, Katie."

"Hey, Dad. Your favorite granddaughter is impatient to be with your dog."

Al was scowling from her chair. "I like Grandpa too!" She scrambled down from the chair just as Jim scooped her up and swung her around. "Hi Grandpa!" she managed around the giggles when Jim set her back on the seat.

"Good morning, my Allie-bug."

Kate perched on the arm of the couch to pull her heels on, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear when it fell forward. Downing the rest of her coffee, Kate placed the empty mug in the sink before gathering up Al's empty plate.

"Drink your milk and you can let yourself be swept away by Grandpa, Al."

The glass was empty in a minute and the girl climbed off the chair to run into her room, telling the adults she needed to get her shoes and bag.

Kate went to get her own bag of files, untouched since she brought them home, and settled them next to the couch. "I'll be by as soon as I can get free from work to get her," she was saying as she dug in the bag for her keys, checking that they were in the right pocket. "We're close to breaking this case open so it might be later than usual."

"That's fine. She can sleep over if needed. I'll take the couch."

"Dad…"

Jim shook his head. "It's all good. Just know that it's an option if it gets too late."

Kate smiled. "Thanks." She passed Al on her way back down the hall, a tote bag slung over her shoulder and ballet flats on her feet. Kate unlocked the safe in her drawer, took out her gun and badge; she'd leave the clip out of her weapon until she got into the precinct. But the badge she tucked into the pocket of her jacket before she put it on.

"Coat, Al," she reminded, picking up her daughter's bright red peacoat and holding it out for the girl to slip her arms into. Kate pulled on her own navy coat, buttoning it up as she locked the apartment door behind the three of them.

They walked down to the ground floor together, Al and Jim chattering happily while Kate checked her messages for anything to do with the case. Nothing except Ryan's saved message from yesterday.

Outside the building, Kate gave her father a last hug as he whispered, "Let me know if you need to use Plan B tonight."

"I'll call you if it's too late. Promise." Then she squatted down in front of Al. "Behave for Grandpa, okay? I'll be by tonight to pick you up."

Al threw her arms around Kate's neck, her nose in the thick fall of Kate's hair. "I will, Mom. Love you."

"Love you too, Al."

Kate waited while her father hailed a cab and loaded Al and her bag into the backseat. "Love you, Dad."

He reached out to squeeze Kate's hand. "Back atcha, kid."

Once the cab had taken the corner at the end of the street, Kate walked to her car. It was still early for rush-hour traffic to be clogging up the city streets so she was able to take some of the major streets up the island to the precinct without too many stops. She didn't pull over in front of the Starbucks she always frequented, not wanting to risk getting caught in line behind the commuters and finding herself stuck in the traffic she had been avoiding. The precinct coffee would have to work until she could go out during the day and get something that tasted like the real thing.

Peters wasn't at the front desk this morning. Instead, the grouchy woman who worked his off-days was sitting in his place, examining her fingernails. Kate didn't bother saying hello but went directly up to her floor. Ryan was at his desk, typing something into the computer.

"Morning," she called as she rounded the divider into the bullpen.

The other cop looked up and nodded. "How'd girl's night go with Lanie and Al?"

"It was nice," Kate said as she put her bag on the ground near her desk. "Lanie gave me some news. Molly Sergeant wasn't sexually assaulted."

"Wonder why that is," Ryan mused, turning his chair to face Kate. "Jenna and Olivia were."

"Your two witnesses coming in today?"

"They are. Sometime this morning."

Kate snapped the clip into her gun, put it in the drawer of her desk. "Good. You and Esposito can take one of them, I'll take the other." She shed her coat and went toward the break room. "Then Esposito said he found something with an after-school person."

She poured her second cup of coffee, adding cream and sugar, stirring it on the walk back to her desk. Esposito had shown up, chatting with a woman that didn't look familiar. He nodded back at her when she raised a brow in his direction. One of the witnesses then. She stopped at her desk to pick up her legal pad and pen before going to Esposito's desk.

"Detective Kate Beckett, this is Renee Gallagher," Esposito said as an introduction.

Kate took the woman's hand with a smile. "I'm glad I can help the NYPD," the petite blonde woman said.

They moved from the bullpen into the lounge. Renee clasped her hands on her lap, sitting on the couch across from Kate.

"So, Detective Ryan told me that you might have seen something in the park to do with Molly Sergeant?"

"It might be nothing," she started.

Kate gave her a gentle smile and a shake of her head. "Anything could be important, Miss Gallagher. Just tell me what you saw."

"It was Sunday, maybe. I was in Tompkins Square with my little boy. We sometimes go there to play even though it's still cold outside. Anyway, Molly goes to the same school as my Tyler and they'd play together if Nora brought Molly over at the same time. Well, Sunday while Tyler and Molly were playing across the park while Nora and I talked, I saw this man talking to the kids. It might have been nothing but it felt off. You can sense things like that, you know?"

Kate nodded, agreeing. "So this man, did he touch Molly or Tyler?"

Renee shook her head. "No. Just talked until Nora and I got over to the kids. Then he ran off in the opposite direction."

"Could you sit with a sketch artist and describe the man?"

"I only got a glimpse of his face before he ran, but I could try." Renee twisted her hands together before she picked at a hangnail without looking down. "I hate to think of what Nora and Brandon are going through. I want to help in any way I can, Detective Beckett."

Kate sat Renee down with one of the sketch artists in the lounge before going back to her desk. As soon as Ryan and Esposito finished with their witness, Kate wanted to get over to Tompkins Square Park and canvass some of the families there. If this was where the man hunted, someone would have seen him and perhaps gotten a better look at his face than Renee.

In the meantime, Kate sipped at her lukewarm coffee and typed up the notes from the interview into her computer. Her phone vibrated across her desk as she saved the document. A photo message from her dad showed Al and Sadie cuddled up on the most comfortable couch Kate had ever known, fast asleep on one another. She was grinning, saving the photo on her memory card, when the boys emerged from the conference room.

Ryan shook his head as Esposito thanked the older man who was walking behind them.

"Nothing?" she asked, setting the phone back down next to the keyboard.

"Nothing. You get anything from Renee?"

Kate pointed toward the lounge where they could see the sketch artist holding his drawing pad up for Renee to look at. "She didn't get a good look at our possible guy but she said she'd try and get a sketch together. I'll head over to the park once they're done, see if anyone else saw him."

Esposito stopped at her desk, crossing his arms. "We can take the after-school angle. Maybe the same guy followed her to extracurricular stuff, stalking her."

"Sounds like a plan." Kate rose just as the sketch artist and Renee came out of the lounge. She thanked both of them, handed Renee one of her business cards in case the woman thought of anything else that had been off, and took the rough sketch from the other officer. She made copies of the face of the man Renee saw, handing one to Ryan and pinning another up on the murder board under the column for suspects.

"Let's meet back here, share whatever we find."

"Deal," said Esposito.

Kate fingered the handcuff keychain as she jogged down to the sidewalk to her car. Catch the creep so that people like Al were safe.

* * *

><p>He's breathing heavily, an arm thrown out over his head, the other trailing over the woman's trim stomach. Lazy and tired and sated. There are definite perks to no set hour to wake up and stealing a little love from his girlfriend just as the sun rises is certainly one of them.<p>

The woman rolled over, draping herself over half of his body to press a kiss to his bare chest. "Mmm… Richard, we need to stop this," she purred.

"Why?" he asked, reaching up to thread his fingers through her red hair, massaging her scalp. "It's fun."

"Yeah, it is," she said, trailing hot kisses up his throat to his lips. "But one day, we're going to break something trying to top our list or end up with a little one in the oven and then we'll be sorry."

Meredith seemed to ignore his statement, curling herself into his side with a little grin and a contented sigh.

The alarm next to him beeped again, going off for the fifth time after he hit snooze all the other times. Castle wasn't sure if he managed to stop the alarm with his hand or his foot or elbow, but the beeping had stopped for the next ten minutes each time and that was all that had mattered at the time. He finally switched the clock off, letting his arm flop onto the mattress next to him.

Meredith rubbed her nose against his cheek, whispering into his ear. "What time is it?"

"Almost ten. Why?"

The woman was a flurry of activity, snatching most of the sheets off the bed and wrapping them around her naked body. "Shit! I have an audition at eleven uptown!" Meredith disappeared into the bathroom, the sheet trailing behind her as she flashed a temptress smile back at Castle that she knew he wouldn't be able to resist.

Five minutes later and a shower cut short by another encounter against the wet tiles, Meredith was dressed in a pretty dark green dress and black heeled boots, fluffing her hair in the mirror. Castle had a towel hitched around his hips, following her around the loft, his fingers tickling her side as she turned to say goodbye.

"I'll be back tonight. I have a meeting with my agent after this audition. Dinner tonight?"

He backed her up against the front door, kissing lips there were at his height thanks to her heels. "Of course. I'll pick you up."

Meredith ducked out from under him with a laugh and a pat on his butt. "Wish me luck, Richard."

"Break a leg, hottie," he said, taking one last kiss from her before she left the apartment in a whirlwind of red hair and vanilla perfume.

He got dressed, edging toward casual instead of business formal since he didn't have anywhere to be. His publisher would want another few chapters of his new book soon but after days of sitting at his desk and getting distracted by the Internet and the remote controlled helicopter he couldn't resist buying, Castle sensed a change of scenery was required.

Dressed in jeans and a black v-neck, he gathered up his laptop and charger in the laptop case Meredith had bought him for his birthday, pocketed his phone, and pulled on his jacket. There was a coffee shop a little uptown where he could spend all day, then just pick Meredith up from her meeting and bring her out to dinner. Perfect plan.

Castle used the car service the publishing house provided to get to the shop. It wasn't a Starbucks, so the crowd was thin and less asshole-y. He ordered a large black coffee and claimed a seat near the window to people-watch while writing. Normally a distraction, the strangers that passed the window told their own stories and he often found places to infuse some of their characteristics into his own tales.

He managed to get a full chapter done and the two more outlined in the following three hours before he needed to get more coffee. Standing in line with an eye on his table and laptop, Castle scrolled through his twitter feed on his phone.

The woman behind him was on her phone, talking to someone named Al about a Sadie. Castle shifted enough to see what she looked like and blinked slowly. Brown hair in soft curls fell over her shoulders, a contrast to her navy blue peacoat, hazel eyes smiling along with her mouth. She was rocking back on her heels, her black pants covering legs that seemed to go on for miles.

Then he started writing her story. Al was her friend, someone she knew since high school. They'd hung out, never moving past friendship despite the fact that everyone around them saw they might have made a good match. Sadie was Al's current girlfriend and Al was looking for a present for her. He called the brown-haired woman up to get advice from a woman's point-of-view on a gift that Sadie would love.

"What can I get you, sir?" asked the barista when he reached the front of the line.

Same coffee order, same size. He needed the caffeine to keep up this writing spree. Castle gave "Rick" as his name, trying to lay low in public.

As he stepped to the side to wait for the second cup, he studied that woman again. She was giggling, holding a hand up to her mouth to hide a sparkling smile. Maybe Al wasn't just a friend. That would mess up his whole story.

She glanced over and saw his frown. When she tilted her head to the side, her smile fading slowly as her brows drew together, Castle looked away, tucking his hands in his pockets. She paused, shook her head a little, then put the phone to her shoulder to order her coffee. A skim latte with sugar-free vanilla. Not quite frou-frou, not boring black coffee. A nice balance.

The barista called his name and he claimed the cup. His eyes stayed on the woman as she waited for her drink. When she turned, pacing three steps along the counter, Castle saw a badge clipped onto the belt of her jacket. A cop. He pursed his lips, then opened a new document on the computer and started writing in her traits. Never know when one would need a beautiful police detective in a story and this woman was definitely an inspiration.

With her own coffee cup in her hand, the phone in the other, the woman opened the door with her hip and a last, lingering look at his face.

Castle watched her walk down the street to a beat-up blue Crown Victoria, placing the cup on the roof as she unlocked the door and climbed in. It was illegal, very illegal, but he quickly jotted down the license plate number on the document after her traits he had noted.

This mystery woman was more interesting than his current main character. Determined to get to know her, he made a silent vow to return to the coffee shop and wait until the pretty detective returned.

Because now, more than anything, Richard Castle wanted to know her personality, not just her physical appearance.


	6. Chapter 6

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>Kate drove slower, not because of traffic, but because of the man in the coffee shop. She was a regular at that shop since it was on her way home from the precinct and she often found herself needing a pick-up after work. But she had never seen that man before in her nearly seven years of visiting that place.<p>

However, she had seen him somewhere else. She remembered a long line, one that snaked through shelves of fiction and romance and science fiction. She hadn't picked up any other books though she did browse out of boredom while waiting, her fingers running down the spines of the books as she inched forward every few seconds. The hardcover book in her hand, the edges digging into her biceps, was more important than the scantily-clad romance novels or the leather-bound classics, though the latter tempted her with their pretty gold scrollwork. Kate had shifted the then-infant Al further up on her hip. She had been getting antsy, but Kate didn't want to leave after getting so close, so she had whispered nonsense in her ear and hoped that it would sooth the fidgeting girl. A blonde woman was standing next to him, her hand on his shoulder as he signed the title page of the books placed in front of him.

"Who can I make it out to?" he asked, turning to look up at her.

And Al took that moment to grab hold of Kate's hair and give it a tug with a giggle that pealed out over the bookstore. With a forced smile through the sharp pain radiating through her temple, she replied, "Kate."

She watched as his hand scrawled over the page, how his eyes squinted a little as if he was exhausted but couldn't let himself go to sleep yet. Must have been at this for hours, the same repeated questions, the same repetitive motion of signing title pages.

"You've got a future heartbreaker there, Kate," he said with an easy smile, handing the book back to her. "You'll be scaring the boys off in no time."

"Oh, I think I can handle them." Kate tried to ignore the quick zip of electricity up her arm when their fingers brushed over the cover. She smiled, a little tired herself, her head tilting to the side a bit as Al yanked on her hair again. "Thanks."

The woman behind him squeezed his shoulder, a subtle reminder that there were others behind this woman and her kid. Castle had waved her off, turning back to Kate. "You know, you're the first person to thank me and mean it."

Al squealed, squirming down so Kate had to set her on the ground, holding her up with one hand. "It's nice of you to take time to see us." Blondie was leaning down to whisper into his ear and Kate took her leave with another "thank you" before picking up Al and going to find her father over in the cooking aisle.

But today had been a shock, seeing those brilliant blue eyes and scruff of dark hair in her coffee shop had Kate reeling. And that was bad, especially when she was headed to the park where their top suspect could be hanging out.

"Get your head back in the case, Kate," she muttered, turning the wheel so she pulled up near Tompkins Square Park and stopping. "Just a coincidence that he looked like your favorite author. Focus."

The park was busy with families. Before getting out, Kate checked to make sure her gun was loaded and secured on her hip but hidden by her jacket. No need to scare children unnecessarily. She threw the laminated NYPD plate on her dashboard so that she wasn't towed, found the sketch of the man Renee had given, and walked over to the playground in the park.

The fountain was off in February but the swings and curly slide were definitely being put to use. The benches in the middle of the playground had mothers and a few fathers on them, watching their kids to make sure they weren't getting hurt. Kate found a pair of women, both holding coffee cups as they talked about last night's reality show episode.

Neither of them recognized the sketch of the man, though they did say that they had seen Molly and Nora around the park some days.

"Hey!"

Kate turned when one of the fathers across the playground shouted, her hand drifting toward her hip automatically. The man was running toward a little girl who was listening attentively to a tall man. She didn't need to look at the sketch still in her hand to know that the man fit their description.

She passed the father, stuffing the sketch into her pocket as she drew her gun. "Police, sir. Stay back," she managed once she got ahead of the man.

"That's my daughter," he said, keeping up with her though his breathing was getting heavy.

"I've got it."

As soon as the man noticed Kate running toward him, he abandoned the girl and started in the opposite direction, nearly knocking over a pair of joggers on the path.

"Police! Stop!" Kate shouted as she skirted around the little girl, charging after the man.

He didn't. Instead, he turned while running, pushing an empty stroller into Kate's path. She dodged, nearly losing her footing, but the man was more concerned with watching her stumble than running away and the next time he turned around, Kate was at his heels.

She tackled him, their bodies skidding along the pavement as they rolled together. They ended with Kate on top of him, a knee pressed to his chest and her gun to his temple.

"Gotcha, you son of a bitch," she said, her breathing even despite the chase.

Kate reached back, fumbled for her handcuffs under her jacket, snapping them onto the man's wrists. As she jerked him to his feet, she noticed the people in the park staring at them. She ignored them as she shoved the man back toward the center of the park, past the crowd of onlookers, and to her car.

She called up Ryan as she pulled away from the park.

"Hey, we don't have anything for you yet," the other detective started before Kate could speak.

"That's fine. I've got our guy." She glanced in the rearview mirror and saw the man slumped in the back. "I'll meet you two back at the station."

Seconds after she hung up with Ryan, her phone rang in her hand. She answered it without looking at the caller ID, concentrating more on the road than her phone.

"Beckett."

"Hey, Mom!"

Her daughter's voice surprised her. Luckily she was at a stop light so the twist of the wheel in her hand didn't do anything. "Hey, Al. Listen, kid, I'm a little busy." The cab behind her honked when she didn't pull into the intersection the instant the light turned green. "Can I call you later?"

"You got a daughter?"

Kate ignored the man's question. Don't give him any fodder to use against her in the future. Al was babbling about Sadie and Grandpa and what they had for lunch and the movie they were watching. "Al, I'll call you in a few hours before I pick you up. Talk to you later, sweetie."

"Little girl," muttered the man as he twisted his hands so the cuffs jingled a bit. "Does she have your eyes, Detective? You've got gorgeous eyes."

She bit her lip. She did not need this creep fantasizing about Al. So she let him talk in the backseat without giving him any feedback. Her skin was still crawling when she pulled him from the car and strong-armed him into the elevator inside the precinct.

Esposito was returning from the break room when Kate shoved the man out of the elevator. Without a word, he took over holding the man's arms.

"Thanks, Esposito," Kate said. "Bring him into interview."

She needed to calm down before she went at him. Having to listen to him speculate about Al, describe what he might do to her, had Kate's stomach in a sick twist. What she really needed was thirty minutes in the gym with her hand-to-hand trainer to pound the frustration and urge to vomit out of her. What she could take was five minutes to stop in the bathroom to look in the mirror, poking at the scratch across her cheek from the tumble on the concrete in the park.

Kate winced as she touched the scratch with the moistened paper towel, wiping away the little trickle of blood. Then, she cupped her hands and splashed the cold water up on her face. The water stung the cut but the chill was enough to pull her back into the right mindset for this interrogation. She patted her face dry, giving up on the damp strands of hair framing her face, as she walked from the bathroom.

And right into Ryan.

"Hey."

"We've got this one, Beckett," he said, shifting so he could walk next to her as she went into the break room. His eyes watched as her hand shook pouring coffee into her mug and stirring in sugar. "You go spend some time with your dad and Al."

"No." It came out forcefully as she tossed the coffee stirrer into the trash. "I want to do this."

"But you don't have to," Ryan added, moving to stand in front of her, blocking her exit from the break room.

"Ryan." Her voice held a warning as she stood in front of him. "I need to do this."

"Beckett." A glance over Ryan's shoulder revealed Montgomery, standing in his office doorway with a finger crooked at her.

She gave herself a moment to close her eyes and take a deep breath. Ryan muttered "sorry" as she walked past him to the captain's office, shutting the door behind her.

"Sir, I can handle this," Kate started, placing a hand on the back of one of the chairs in front of Montgomery's desk.

The man was standing as well, his fingers resting on the blotter on his desk as he shook his head. "But the thing is that you don't have to. Kate, you've been off-balance this entire case and for good reason. These girls haven't been much different from Al and that's getting to you." He held a finger up when she opened her mouth to protest. "No, Beckett. I'll make it an order if I have to, but you should go home."

Kate turned to look out the window into the bullpen. The boys weren't out there and she could only figure that they were already in the interrogation room with her suspect. Doing her job because she couldn't separate her personal life from work. "Okay." She looked back across the desk at Montgomery with a nod, rubbing her hand across her forehead. "Okay, I'll take the rest of the day."

"It'll still be your case tomorrow," Montgomery said, pulling his chair out but not sitting. "Say hi to your father and Al for me?"

"Of course." Kate paused at the doorway, her hand on the frame as she looked back at the older man. "Thanks, sir."

He nodded once, sitting at the desk and tugging a file toward him. "Don't mention it, Beckett."

She didn't glance toward the interview room, didn't bother ducking into the observation area to see if the guy was breaking under her co-workers' tag-team method. She went straight to her desk, gathered up her purse and keys, and headed down the stairs.

Before starting the car up, Kate let her head fall back against the headrest, staring at the grey fabric of the ceiling. It had been a long time since she had been this emotionally involved in a case and she hated herself a little for not recognizing it sooner. Then she turned the key in the ignition and started toward her father's apartment.

He had a nice two-bedroom on the Upper West Side, the guest room reserved for nights when Kate was unable to get to his place after a case. Jim had moved after Johanna was killed, unable to stay in the same place as where they had made their lives and not remember every moment, picture every memory that wouldn't be made. So he had taken all of his things from the apartment in TriBeCa, the breezy loft that Johanna had loved so much, and moved them to the Upper West. Kate had claimed the loft, using the second bedroom there as an office until Al came around. She sensed that Jim had loved that; that Kate was using her old home to raise his and Johanna's granddaughter.

The building he lived in had a doorman, a friendly middle-aged man named Tim that said hello to Kate as she walked to the elevators. Kate suspected that Tim had a bit of a crush on her from the way he always ran to grab the door before she could reach it or how he insisted of hitting the elevator buttons. She just smiled as she got into the elevator, trying not to encourage the man.

Kate only had to knock once before her dad answered the door with a surprised, "Katie?"

"Hey. Got out of work early. Montgomery says hello." She didn't bother mentioning why she was showing up to pick up Al at a reasonable hour but Jim sighed, nodding. So damn perceptive, Kate thought as she stepped into the hallway. "Did I miss dinner?"

"Just pulled it out of the oven, actually. We're having-"

"Mom!" Al barreled around the corner and slammed into Kate's legs.

"Goodness, if we're having Mom you'd better be prepared for small portions," she joked, ruffling Al's hair. "I'm not very big."

The girl fixed her with a glare that told Kate she had seen right past the joke. "You know what I meant. We're having chicken nuggets that are shaped like dinosaurs."

Kate dropped her purse on the side table along with her keys. "Does shaping them like dinosaurs make them better than normal chicken nuggets?"

"Duh," Al said. She was up on her tiptoes trying to get a cup from the counter. "Makes all the difference in the world." Al threw a look at Jim, her hands on her hips. "She's new here, isn't she?"

Jim shrugged, laughing without trying to hide it. His cloudy blue eyes met Kate's over the kitchen counter as he got down plates and handed Al the cup she had been reaching for. "Must be. Everyone knows dinosaur chicken nuggets taste better."

A wet nose hit Kate's knee as she moved to take the plates from her father. She placed a hand on the dog's head, giving it a quick rub. "Hey, Sadie my lady," she said to the dog as it followed her to the table. The English Springer Spaniel had grown up from the puppy she had been in the photo on Kate's phone, still slender and still a sweetheart. Kate was sure her father kept the dog around for companionship instead of protection since Sadie couldn't bring herself to tear into some of the stuffed toys she got for Christmas; she just carried them around like they were her own puppies.

"Katie, what happened today?"

She bit her lip, looking at her dad as he transferred the chicken onto a serving plate, followed by the French fries shaped like smiley faces. "Nothing."

When she went to take the plate from him, Jim pulled it back out of her reach. "Now why don't I believe you?" he asked, touching the skin below her cut gently.

"Later," she mumbled. Jim arched a brow, placing the food on the table. "Promise. I'll tell you later."

* * *

><p>He hadn't gotten much writing done after the brunette cop had left the shop. The short story he had been working on for a proposed anthology with Cannell, Connelly, Patterson, and Kellerman no longer held his attention. Okay, so maybe it had been entertaining until the spitting image of the woman appeared in every scene and Castle found himself deleting entire paragraphs to edit her out.<p>

This wasn't her story. But he so wanted to tell it. Not just the fictional version that he had pouring out of his fingertips but the real one. He wanted to know her, Al, and Sadie. He wanted to be ordering her coffee that she would drink while they talked.

Castle shook his head as he held down the backspace key, watching the words disappear on the screen. Once he got home, he'd look up that license plate and see if he could get a name. Maybe the NYPD gave the same car to their detectives day after day and she'd be on records with it. Wow, that's creepy, he thought, hitting Ctrl and the 's' to save the document, considerably shorter than he would have liked after hours spent in solitary away from his toys at the loft. These trips were supposed to make him more time efficient, not leave him pining over a mystery woman.

And now he was running late to get Meredith from her meeting.

He packed up the laptop and charger, down the rest of the cold coffee in the cup, wrinkling his nose at the bitter grinds that came with the last drop, and called the car service from outside the shop.

Thanks to traffic with rush hour, he was really late to pick her up outside the office building uptown.

"Richard, I've been waiting for almost half an hour," were the first words of her mouth as she slid into the backseat. She did lean over and peck him on the lips, shifting her purse so she could cuddle into his side.

He gave a smile, a shrug before wrapping his arm around her shoulders. "You know me. Sometimes I lose track of time writing."

"We need to get you a timer or something," she teased. "Keep you on track."

Castle didn't mention that sometimes, one didn't decide when inspiration struck. Having a timer to write by would be utterly pointless to him. "Where do you feel like eating?"

"There's a nice French restaurant nearby, I think. That would be lovely."

But he really wasn't listening. He had caught a glimpse of a dark blue sedan that looked eerily like the detective from the coffee shop's car. There was a man behind the wheel, so it wasn't her, but suddenly, she was back at the forefront of his mind.

"Richard?"

He shook his head as Meredith poked his side. "Yes?" he asked, trying to figure out what she was talking about and how he could fit back into the conversation.

Meredith had one perfectly groomed brow raised as she crossed her arms and legs simultaneously. "You weren't listening."

A statement, not a question. He'd been caught. "Sorry," he muttered with what he hoped was a convincingly charming smile.

"I was just saying that this agent isn't working for me," she started babbling again, just happy to have his attention back on her. "I think you need to pull some strings, see if there's a better one in the city because, really? A movie musical? Who do they think I am, Julie Andrews?"

Not the time to argue about the aforementioned woman's wild success in movies that involved singing and dancing. "I'll see what I can do."

She walked her fingers up his chest before they reached his nose, which she tapped with a manicured nail. "Thanks, Richard."

Things didn't get better over dinner. As Meredith picked at a salad, Castle found himself blatantly staring at a head of brown curls across the dining room. Wrong body structure, but goodness the hair was the right shade. Meredith didn't notice his preoccupation with the other woman, moving onto a rant about the temperature in the studio that hosted one of the acting classes she was taking. Something about the chill being bad for her voice. Castle nodded along, adding hums of agreement when he felt they fit, and pulling apart the baked potato like it was undergoing an autopsy.

He so needed to get home and find out who she was so she would stop haunting his mind with the memory of her. Dessert was going to take far too long.


	7. Chapter 7

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>Al was acting out some sort of mini-dinosaur play on her plate that involved the T-Rex shaped nuggets becoming friends with the plant-eater nuggets thereby ending the life-long war between the two races. It was actually pretty entertaining and Kate caught herself watching the celebration party taking place in the Ketchup Pool, complete with smiley floaties, instead of eating her own dinner.<p>

"Mom, eat."

Jim was laughing again as his granddaughter commanded Kate to finish her meal without looking up. Kate raised a brow as she cut a nugget in half and stabbed it with her fork.

Sometimes Kate had to stop and look around the table. It may have been too many re-watches of 'Lilo&Stitch' with Al, but she had to agree that their family was small and a little broken, but it was good. Her father had been sober since Al's birth, wanting to straight out not only for himself but for Kate and his granddaughter. Kate had reconciled the fact that she'd never know who had woken up next to her that morning and taken Al as a blessing instead of a burden. And Al had yet to ask about the missing father figure in her life, more than happy to take Ryan and Esposito as ever-present uncles and Lanie as the cool aunt.

"You're still not eating."

Kate blinked at Al who was glaring at her. Like looking into a miniature mirror. She lowered her fork to the plate, smiling. "Sorry. Lost in thought."

Al reached over and grabbed her mother's wrist, bringing the fork back up into the air. "Find a map so you can finish eating. Grandpa and I made cookies for dessert."

"Oh, well if there're cookies," Kate said, popping the chicken into her mouth. Al looked pleased and turned back to her dinosaur party. "Are there cookies?" she asked her father.

Before Jim could open his mouth, Al jumped in. "Mom, why would I lie about cookies?"

"We wouldn't lie about cookies, Mom," said Jim with a grin, stealing the other half of Kate's chicken nugget. "That's just wrong."

"Don't know why I suggested such a thing." Kate managed to snag one of her father's nuggets in exchange for her stolen one, dragging it through the blob of ketchup on her plate before biting off half.

"They're peanut butter chocolate chip and Grandpa let me have some of the dough before we baked them," Al chattered, dancing the T-Rex out of the ketchup before eating its head. "It was yummy."

Her phone vibrated in her pocket, sending out a single beep, and Kate took it out to check the message. It was Esposito, so she opened it, breaking her own rule of no electronics at the table.

It was short. "Confessed. Two life sentences, no parole." Suddenly, a weight was lifted from her shoulders as she took a deep breath. Then she put the phone on silent and pushed it into her pocket to take another bite of food.

"You save any of the leftover dough for me?"

Jim shook his head. "Used it all. We have enough cookies to feed your precinct."

"We baked all day!" Al was just finishing her last French fry as she spoke. "Mom, can we bring some to Espo and Ryan?"

"Definitely. Maybe you can visit tomorrow since you only have a half-day of school. Plan?"

Al slid off her chair, grabbed her plate, and went over to the dishwasher. "I love Espo and Ryan. Wait," she said, turning around after closing the machine. "Only half a day tomorrow?"

"Teacher day. They go to school, you don't."

"Good. Some of them need to go to school," the girl muttered, making both adults grin. "So I get to see your boys and Cap and Lanie?"

Kate got up, taking her dad's plate and hers over to place in the dishwasher. "Maybe Lanie. Remember? She works down in a different building. But the boys and Cap will be around."

It was like the girl's day had been made. Al skipped around the couch and looped her arms around Sadie's neck. "Lady, I'm so happy!"

"She should be crashing soon," Jim muttered as he carried empty glasses over. "She's been in constant motion all day."

"Thanks, Dad, for watching her."

"Don't mention it, Katie. I love spending time with her. Reminds me of you when you were her age." His hands were sudsy when he tugged on her hair.

Kate smiled, dotting her father's nose with a pile of bubbles. "Let's hope she skips the wild child phase."

"Cookies?"

Al's head popped up on the other side of the couch, tilted to the side so some of her curls fell over her face. She didn't brush them away, but instead blew air out of her mouth and watched the strands flutter back to her face with a giggle.

"Cookies," said Jim with a nod. He wiped his hands off on the dishtowel, tossing it at Kate before taking out one of the numerous Tupperware containers and popping the lid off. He held it out to his granddaughter who snatched one from the container and instantly plopped back onto the couch, one hand still petting Sadie's head.

Kate took a cookie, breaking it in half and following her father over to sit on the couch next to Al. The girl was watching anxiously as Kate ate one half of the cookie.

"So?"

"Delicious," she replied after a long pause meant to play games with her mind. "The boys will eat these in under a minute."

Al bounced on the cushions happily before going to sit on the ground with Sadie, holding her own cookie away from the dog's searching nose.

Not thirty minutes later, Al fell asleep on top of Sadie, using the dog's stomach as a pillow as she curled between Sadie's long legs. She had her arms wrapped loosely around Sadie's neck, not chaining the dog to her, but keeping her close.

"So, today…" started Jim, muting the TV from the game show they had been half-heartedly following and turning to face Kate.

When he didn't give up that stare that told her he'd sit there, waiting, until she spilt the beans, Kate sighed, sitting back into the cushions and closing her eyes. "It was a disaster, Dad.

He reached out, rubbing his hand along her arm. "Start from the beginning."

"The boys found two witnesses from the park that agreed to come in and talk. Renee, one of them, gave us enough for a sketch."

"Sounds pretty decent so far," Jim commented.

Kate smiled, but it wasn't happy. The pull of her brows relayed complete disappointment. "Yeah, well, I took a copy of the sketch to Tompkins Square Park, where the three girls might have gone with their parents, to see if other regulars might have seen the man. He was there, talking to another little girl. I got him, before he could do anything to her. Tackled him."

"That's where this came from?" he asked, his finger ghosting over the scratch.

"Yeah. On the ride back to the precinct, Al called and the guy heard her. He started…" she hesitated, told herself that this was just like a report, and pushed through it. "Fantasizing about Al. Oh God." Kate stumbled to her feet, bolting for the bathroom, somehow managing not to step on the tangle of girl and dog on the ground.

Her father pulled her hair back as she threw up, gathering it at the nape of her neck. He didn't speak but rubbed his free hand over her back. As soon as Kate sat back against his chest, a hand curled into his worn flannel shirt, pulling comfort from him.

"Sorry, Dad…"

"Don't apologize, sweetie." Jim pressed a kiss to her damp hair as if she were Al's age again. "You're allowed to break down once in a while."

"It's just that those girls," Kate spoke into his shoulder, her nose a hard line against his pectoral. "They were so like Al. And he just kept talking and, God, I don't know how I kept driving without turning around and punching him in the face."

They sat on the bathroom floor, Jim waiting for Kate to release his shirt as a sign that she was okay again.

But her voice surprised him again as she shifted forward, pushing her hair back from her face. "The boys got him to confess. He's gone for life."

"And Allie-bug is safe and sound."

"I know…" she sighed. Then she did lean back, placing a hand on the counter of the sink and pulling herself to her feet. She dropped a hand, helping Jim up before she found her spare toothbrush in the medicine cabinet and ran it under the water. "I know, it's just…"

Jim leaned over and kissed her forehead. "Take a few minutes. I'll go sit with Allie and Sadie, start Jeopardy up again." He stopped at the doorframe, looking at her through the mirror. "And be prepared because I'm about to take you for all you've got with this game show."

Her laugh was weak but it made his heart feel better. Kate was squeezing toothpaste onto the bright pink toothbrush when Jim turned away to go sit in his armchair. Al and Sadie were still cuddled on the floor, their heads under the coffee table with just two sets of legs peeking out. Jim ran his foot down Sadie's rump and the dog lifted her head, looking over at him from under still-sleepy eyes.

"Good girl, Sadie lady," he muttered as she let her head flop back onto the carpet, careful not to disturb the dozing girl. "My three good girls." Then he took the remote to un-mute the TV just as Alex Trebek announced the next categories for the Double Jeopardy round.

Two minutes later, Kate padded down the hallway. She smiled at her father before going into the kitchen, filling up the old kettle and setting it on the stove. She left a mug next to the stove, standing behind the couch and leaning her forearms on the back.

"What is _King Lear_?" she said quietly, the question that matched up to the answer being read off by the host.

Jim grinned back at her. "You were always a reader, weren't you?"

"Don't be jealous, Dad," she murmured. "_King Lear_ is a classic."

"Only if you like daughters with names that sound like STDs."

Kate laughed, returning to the kettle just before it whistled and woke up Al. "You mean Goneril?"

"Seriously! Who names their child that and doesn't expect for them to grow up to hate their guts?"

With the tea bag added to the hot water, Kate crossed her legs as she sat on the couch, the mug warm between her hands. "A valid point, I suppose."

They continued to not only reply to the answers on Jeopardy, but discuss the responses. They mocked some of the competitors' lack of knowledge and made fun of the host's hairstyle. Then Jeopardy ended and Kate finally noticed the time on the cable box.

"Shoot. I need to get home," she said, getting up to wash out the empty mug.

"Stay in the guest room." He interrupted her protest with a single raised finger. "It's late and Al's already asleep. We can move her into the guest bed, which is definitely big enough to sleep both of you, and you can bring her to school from here."

His gaze told her that she wasn't going to win this argument. So Kate sighed and put the mug away. "Fine. Let's get her into the spare room."

It took some time to untangle her arms from around Sadie's neck, the dog watching them with big brown eyes, but eventually, Kate had the toddler cradled in her arms as she walked down the hall to the guest room. With Al curled on her side on the bed, Kate stepped back into the hall, kissing her father on the cheek.

"Thanks, Dad. For everything. I don't know what I'd do without you."

Jim gave her a hug that nearly crushed her ribcage. "Love you too, Katie. Go to bed. I'll be up tomorrow to get breakfast with my girls."

Kate slowly took Al's jeans and purple butterfly shirt off, folding them on the dresser and searching for a spare pair of Al's pajamas she knew Dad kept here. Finding the flannel pants and plain aqua t-shirt, Kate tugged them onto her daughter's sleeping body before pulling the covers up over her. Another search of the room turned up a pile of Kate's clothing that she must have left over one day. She traded the black pants and sweater for the over-large t-shirt and went to find blankets to bring to the couch.

Then she stopped. After today, did she really want to spend the night alone on her father's couch? Kate turned back around and snuggled into the bed with Al. They stayed on separate sides of the bed, but just being able to reach out and brush her daughter's hair was enough of a comfort for Kate to fall asleep quickly and quietly.

* * *

><p>Meredith went straight to bed. Castle sensed she was more than a little angry with his level of distraction at dinner and that had been the reason for the cold shoulder on the ride back to the loft. He had to admit that he had spent an inordinate amount of time pushing food around his plate rather than bringing it to his mouth to eat it. All he really wanted to do was sit in front of his laptop and run down this plate number with his fingers crossed.<p>

So when Meredith had declared to the otherwise empty loft that she had a headache from the day and would be going to bed, Castle had wished her sweet dreams, kissed her lightly, and watched her sweep through the study into the bedroom.

He had toed his shoes off, kicked them toward the closet, and went to grab his laptop from the travel case as the lights turned off in the bedroom. The couch was more comfortable than his chair at the desk, which only served as a reminder that he hadn't finished all of the writing he had meant to complete today. No, the couch was definitely the better choice. Less guilt involved in this little endeavor.

As he logged in, pulling up one of the semi-illegal websites that he kept on his bookmarks for research, Castle realized just how creepy his actions were. He wasn't looking at how to hotwire a car or hack into someone's computer; he was searching for a cop's car because he thought she was pretty.

"Castle, you've cracked," he muttered to himself even as he pulled the document containing the not-even-close-to-being-done short story and found the plate number at the end. "Completely off your rocker."

The computer was searching and Castle found himself tapping his fingers on the silver lining the keyboard, a mixture of impatience and nerves. He kept the document in a different window, trying to get some of the short story written, or at least outlined, while the database searched for a match. Just like back in the coffee shop, suddenly Marlowe was meeting up with a mysterious police officer, all tumbling brown hair and shaded hazel eyes, over coffee.

He was holding down the delete key when the other window blinked on the bottom of his screen. Castle clicked over, leaving the document mid-sentence, and checking the other site.

The first thing that came up was that the car belonged to the New York Police Department. It gave the address of Police Plaza downtown before telling him that it was officially assigned to the Twelfth Precinct. Not quite as narrowed down as he was hoping. He scrolled down on the touchpad, looking for a permanent owner. A few clicks later, he found the log of officers that signed out the car over the years.

Only two women. That helped. A little.

Now was she Katherine Beckett or Andrea Johnson?

The stall in his mini-investigation only lasted five minutes, during which he sat and stared at the screen, his eyes bouncing between the two names. Then he pulled up Facebook and searched for them.

Only Andrea Johnson had a page and her short-cropped blonde hair was definitely not a match for his mystery woman.

"We have a winner," he whispered to the computer screen even as he opened the document again and added the woman's name to her description. He also noted that she worked at the Twelfth, a precinct not far from the coffee shop he had seen her in. "Now stop before this gets too stalker-y and go to bed, Rick."

It took willpower to shut down the laptop, plug it back into the charger on his desk. He wouldn't go stake-out the police station until she emerged, but perhaps, if he kept showing up to that coffee shop, she'd return.

Besides, he liked the thrill of the secrecy of this whole deal. Like living out one of his stories.

He changed into pajamas and snuck to the edge of the bed. Meredith was curled in the center of the bed, both pillows yanked together under her head. He shook his own head as he slipped under the covers and scotched closer to her, pulling his pillow back toward him just as Meredith twisted to rest her head on his arm with a little smiling sigh.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>When he opened his eyes, Meredith was gone from under his arm. It wasn't a surprise since she was always an early riser. He'd find her lounging in the living room with a cup of coffee, reading the newspaper's style section and dog-earing outfits that she wanted. The copy would make its way to his study, strategically placed on his desk right where he could see it.<p>

Rubbing a hand over his hair, he shifted to see what time it was by glancing at his phone. Nearly nine o'clock. Maybe Meredith wouldn't be here. She did have a meeting with her agent about the audition yesterday at ten and she might have decided to go grab coffee before heading to the office.

He got up and went to start the coffee machine in the kitchen. No sign of Meredith other than a handwritten note on the kitchen island letting him know that she'd be back sometime tonight. Something about a lunch date followed by a trip to the theatre with her girlfriends.

Alone for the day.

Castle took a shower before pouring a large mug of coffee and sitting at the desk in his study. He resisted the urge to open the document from last night with the information about the enigmatic Detective Katherine Beckett. A vow was made that as soon as he finished this short story, without mentioning the woman's likeness once, and sent it to his publisher for editing and he could pack up and head to the coffee shop to wait for her to appear.

His concentration only lasted twenty minutes. Then he found himself playing with the bouncy ball he found on his desk, throwing it against the bookshelf that divided the living room from the office and catching it. Marlowe was stuck in the mobster's house and Castle honestly had no idea of how to get the man out of the situation. While throwing a bouncy ball wasn't exactly helping figure things out, it was better than staring at his desktop knowing his publisher was going to slit his throat with a grin on her face when this draft didn't make it to her inbox by five o'clock tonight.

"Come on, man," he muttered, letting the bouncy ball hit the bookshelf, ricochet off the spine of a Fairstein novel, and roll toward the windows. "Just get this done."

He opened iTunes, found a playlist of rock-and-roll songs from the 80's, and started trying to get his character out of the house.

This time he made it ten minutes. He found himself on the phone with one of his connections, talking about finding Meredith a new agent since she was so obviously unhappy with her current one. He wasn't sure why, exactly, since the man was getting her decent roles in some big television shows and even a small role in a movie that had done well in the box offices, but if he could pull some of his strings to make her happy, he would.

By the time he had hung up with the fourth of his friends in the show business, Castle was fairly sure he had lined up two options for Meredith to look at when she got back from the theatre with her friends.

And still, Marlowe was staring down an Italian mobster with a gun against his temple.

If Meredith were at the loft, Castle might have her tie him down to a seat and watch as he tried to free himself in the name of character research. But the idea of being stuck alone in his apartment with his hands tied to the arms of his chair wasn't particularly appealing. But if Meredith were there, willing to break him free, maybe after some light teasing as she was wont to do, Castle would be all over that.

Instead of giving into temptation, closing the laptop, and moving to the coffee shop to stake out the counter, Castle moved to a different scene, deciding to work backwards to find out how he'd get out that way.

He'd change locations at noon. Grab lunch at one of the sub shops nearby before watching for Miss Skim Vanilla Latte at the shop.

* * *

><p>Kate's phone rang as her set alarm went off from under the pillow. She pulled it out, dismissed the alarm, and rolled over to face the ceiling. She leaned her head on her palm and gave Al's shoulder, barely visible under the pile of sheets, a little wiggle.<p>

"Hey, kid. Time to get up."

Al groaned, but sat up, pushing back her hair. "You gotta get up too."

"Oh so pushy," Kate muttered as her daughter jumped off the bed and headed toward the bathroom across the hall. She did get out of bed, stretching her arms over her head and hearing her back give a quiet crack. While Al brushed her teeth, Kate found her black pants and tugged them on. She'd run back to the apartment and change after dropping Al off at school.

Her father was already in the kitchen, scrambling eggs in one frying pan with bacon going in another. But what Kate could smell over that was the coffee. He had broken down and bought one of those single-serve Keurig and already had his cup made.

"Morning," he said, flipping over the sizzling bacon before turning to the eggs, sliding them from the frying pan into a large, shallow bowl.

Kate chose one of the little cups from her father's spinning rack, placing a mug under the machine, and hitting start. "You didn't have to make breakfast," Kate commented, reached around her father's shoulder to put bread into the toaster.

"I like cooking." He took a sip of his coffee, handing her the bowl of scrambled eggs. "I don't get to do it as often as I used to. You remember how much Mom loved making breakfast."

"That she did."

Kate was smiling when Al came into the kitchen, rubbing her eyes. "Do I have to go to school?"

"Yes. The sooner you eat breakfast, the sooner you'll get to school, which means you'll be visiting the boys even faster." Kate set a plate in front of Al, handing her a fork. "Eat up."

She took her cup of coffee back into the spare room, gathering up Al's clothes and her sweater and folding them on the bed after making it. She found a maroon and grey striped shirt in the drawers and figured Al could wear the jeans from yesterday again. Kate would just wear the black pants and sleep shirt back to the apartment before she changed.

She rejoined them in the kitchen, sipping the coffee as she spooned out scrambled eggs on an empty plate before stabbing some. "You haven't lost your touch, Dad."

"Glad to hear it." He pushed three pieces of bacon onto her plate, ignoring her glance that told him she could feed herself.

Kate still picked up one of the crispy bacon slices and bit into it. "Hey, Al. Clothes on the bed for today."

Al put her plate in the sink, reaching on her tiptoes to get it into the basin, then bouncing down the hall to get dressed. Kate figured the prospect of chilling with her overprotective uncles for the afternoon had her bouncing off the wall and pitied her teacher for the morning. Al was normally an energetic girl so the idea of seeing some of her favorite people would magnify that to epic proportions.

"You going to be okay, Katie?"

She looked up from the eggs on her fork at her dad. "Yeah. He's going away and not getting out. I'll be fine."

Al came back out, dressed and holding Kate's sweater under her arm. "Mom, can I borrow your scarf?"

"The grey one?"

"Yeah. It'll match my shirt."

Kate shrugged, pointing over toward the couch where the scarf lay on top of her jacket. "Go for it, my little fashionista."

The girl looped the soft grey scarf around her neck, playing with the fringe as she slipped her shoes on. "Gotta leave, Mom, or we'll be late."

"So glad you have her, Katie. You'd be lost without her keeping time for you." Jim was chuckling as he went to wash the dishes, adding soap to the frying pans before letting them sit in the hot water.

Kate added her plates to the suds, giving her father a shove on his shoulder. "Shush, you." Then she turned back to grab up her coat and put her shoes on. "Let's go, kid. Get you to school to do some more math."

"Eww…" the girl whined as she walked back to Jim and was enveloped in a hug. "I don't like math, Grandpa."

"Me neither," he responded, placing her back on the ground. "But then you'll see Espo and Ryan and Cap and give them the cookies we made." He handed her two containers of the cookies. "Give them all my best."

Her little salute was enough to have the man grinning. "Aye-aye, sir."

Kate gave Jim another hug, her arms squeezing his back before letting go. "I'll give you a call tomorrow sometime. I owe you."

"Of course you don't. Now go before my granddaughter pulls you from the place by your hair," he muttered, gesturing to Al as she tapped her foot against the hardwood floor. "Love you, Katie."

"Love you too, Dad."

As Kate swung her coat on, gathering up her sweater and a third tin of cookies, Al waved goodbye to Jim, waiting for Kate to open the door.

"Pick a CD, Al," Kate said, turning the car on and pulling into traffic. The girl handed her the Winnie the Pooh one that Kate had ejected from the player after listening to 'Little Black Raincloud' on repeat. She barely held back the roll of her eyes as she pushed the CD into the player, letting the theme song she had sung for Lanie fill the car, Al's voice joining in. It was going to be stuck in her head for the rest of the day…

The school parking lot was crowded but Kate parked a block away and walked Al up to the front door. The girl gave her a brief hug before running to catch up with her friends just inside the school building. Kate watched to make sure she was safely inside before turning to head back to the car. She needed to swing by the apartment, change her clothes, and get back to the precinct. A glance at her watch said she should have plenty of time.

She stuck to side roads, avoiding the worst of the traffic, and screeching to a stop outside her apartment building. It took her less than five minutes to get up the stairs, unlock her door, place the tin of cookies on the counter, pull off the sleep shirt and trade it for a loose blue-green button up over a charcoal camisole. Then she was back down in the car and retracing her route to the precinct.

Kate sensed a good day ahead when one of the few spots directly outside the precinct were open and she was able to pull in there rather than take the trek from the garage. She jogged up the stairs to the Homicide floor.

"Hey, boys," she said, taking her coat off and draping it over the back of her chair before sitting. "Got good news for you."

Esposito looked up first as Ryan continued to type for a few more seconds.

"Al's going to visit after she gets out of school."

"Yes!" was the simultaneous response before Kate held a hand up.

"And she's bringing cookies that she and my dad made last night."

The two men turned into squealing children at the prospect of sweets.

"Guys!" Kate had to shout a few times before they stopped fist-bumping and talking about food and turned to face her. "Can you update me on the case from yesterday?"

Ryan grabbed a folder, going to sit in the chair next to Kate' desk and handing it over. "His name's Stephen Kara. Forty-three years old, lived a few streets away from the park. He had been arrested for public indecency in the past but never registered as a sex offender."

She was flipping through the completed report, frowning as she read about the past arrests. "The system needs to straight out that whole registration thing."

"Anyway," said Esposito, "We got Kara to confess to all three cases, though the D.A. will only try for two life sentences for Jenna and Olivia, though they're going for twenty-five to life for Molly. They seemed pretty confident about it."

"Good." She placed the report on the pile. "Thanks, guys, for yesterday."

"Seeing that child of yours will more than make up for it," said Esposito.

Kate grinned, turning on her computer as the boys went back to their desks. "So glad my daughter can be used to get forgiveness from you two."

"That and the cookies she's bringing," added Ryan with a smile.


	9. Chapter 9

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>The day was filled with paperwork. Not only did Kate have a backlog of past cases that she needed to type up and file officially but she took most of the forms required for the Kara case to fill out. She wanted to feel like she wasn't abandoning the case completely and while paperwork was some of the least appealing pieces of building a case for the district attorneys, if that's what she could do for Jenna, Olivia, and Molly, then she'd take the drudgery and run with it.<p>

She sipped at her coffee, typing with her free hand while she checked the time. Twelve-sixteen. Probably time to go get Al from school, bring her to visit the rag-tag team of uncles that the girl so adored.

Finishing off the form and saving it, Kate closed down the computer and picked up her keys from the base of the photos on her desk.

"Going to get our favorite five year old?" asked Ryan, looking up as soon as Kate got to her feet and shrugged her jacket on.

"No. I'm leaving you to the paperwork for the rest of the day." She rolled her eyes, jingling her keys with her finger through the keyring. "Obviously I'm going to pick up Al."

Esposito was coming back from the break room, setting Ryan's mug of coffee on his partner's desk before sitting in his chair. "Good. I've been craving those cookies since you mentioned them."

This time, Kate glared and Esposito held his hands up in defense. "Kidding. I'd like to see Ale-" he hesitated when her eyes narrowed, "Al most of all."

"That's right. I'll be back in forty-five minutes or so. Might stop for real coffee before coming back to share her with you all," Kate called back over her shoulder.

Peters was at the desk, a different novel in his hands, the same bottle of fruit punch at his elbow. "Heard you were bringing cookies back with you, Beckett."

"Does everyone know about this?" she asked, not stopping to chat with the man. She promised that this would be the last time she let Al bring any type of food into the precinct since this was always the reaction. Not only did her entire floor know about the possibility of food, but it seemed that when the food came from an adorable child, suddenly the entire department received some sort of chain e-mail to inform them to show up at the Twelfth around twelve-thirty.

Her stomach grumbled as she drove but she didn't pull over to grab something, deciding that a stop at her coffee shop would be warranted. Al could get hot chocolate to bring back to the precinct since she definitely wasn't getting coffee. The girl was hyper enough; Kate didn't want to find out what that amount of caffeine would do to her.

Kate got to Al's school early enough to grab a parking spot right outside the doors, but she still got out and leaned against the hood of the car. She kept her hands stuffed into the deep pockets of the leather jacket she had traded in for at the apartment, wanting the warm lining as an extra layer of protection against the biting wind. She still had time until she needed to move over to their meeting spot so she stayed with the still-warm hood of the car keeping her lower back heated against the chill outside.

"You're Al's mother." She turned and saw a pretty woman, her dark blonde hair pulled into a messy bun, wearing a smile. "I'm Gianna, Maria's mom." It must have been Kate's completely lost expression that had the woman clarifying. "She's a friend of Al's."

"Oh, uh, hi," Kate started, shifting so she wasn't using the car as a prop. "I'm Kate."

"You know, Al looks just like you. Maria, she got all of her father's looks."

Kate took a step forward, pointing over toward the school. "I need to meet Al over there. Can we walk and talk?"

The woman followed, shrugging. "Anyway, Al obviously inherited your looks. Except those eyes. Such pretty blue eyes, you know? Her father?"

That had Kate stumbling a little, trying to shake it off as they reached the meeting spot. Al's father. "Not in the picture."

"Sorry," Gianna said, standing next to Kate but not meeting her eyes.

"It's fine. Not something that matters anymore."

They were both saved the awkwardness when Al and a girl that must have been Maria came toward them. The latter child was definitely her father's spitting image since her mother did not have long, straight black hair or warm brown eyes.

"Mom, this is Maria," Al said, introducing the other girl.

Kate smiled at the girl. "Hi, Maria. I'm Kate."

She ducked her head, hiding those eyes behind a curtain of hair. "Hi, Mrs. Beckett."

Al took her mother's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Oh, Mom isn't married."

Oh goodness, Kate thought, raising her eyes to the sky for an instant. Like this could get any more uncomfortable. "It's fine, Al. Come on, time to visit the uncles. It was nice meeting you, Gianna, Maria."

Kate didn't turn the radio on for the short drive from Al's school to the coffee shop. She was waiting for her mind to stop racing, bracing for the inevitable question.

"Will I get to see Lanie?"

Not the expected question at all. Kate shrugged. "Maybe. She seemed a little busy, but the lure of cookies might get her uptown for a visit."

"I'm going to get coffee, kid. You want hot chocolate or something?" Kate asked as she pulled the car against the curb, throwing it into park.

Al was already unbuckling, setting the tins of cookies that she had held securely in her lap up on the dashboard. "I'll come in and see if I feel like anything."

In a move that was almost comical, the two of them pulled their coats closer to their bodies at the same time as Kate locked the car, keeping a careful eye on Al as she skipped around the nose of the vehicle and up on to the sidewalk.

Kate tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she held the door open for her daughter, giving the matching hair style on the girl a little tug. Al giggled, turning to smile up at Kate, walking backwards until Kate reached forward before she bumped into the tall man waiting in line.

She was too late. Al collided with the man's legs, quickly stepping forward to hold onto Kate's legs even as the man turned to see what had hit him.

And Kate found herself looking into the blue eyes of Richard Castle.

* * *

><p>The clock in the corner of his laptop screen said it was eleven-forty A.M.<p>

"Close enough," he whispered to the screen as he shut it with a snap. Castle found the padded travel case, slipped the laptop and charger into it before zipping it up. He tossed it onto the couch, upsetting the book on the events of the Roaring Twenties in New York City that had been perched on the cushions from research for the latest Derrick Storm novel. Another thing he needed to finish. He sidetracked, picked it up, and placed it on the coffee table before nearly running into the bedroom.

He stood in front of his closet and glanced at the navy v-neck sweater he had pulled on post-shower. Was this good enough to go see her again or should he dress up? No, stick with the sweater, he told himself. Who goes to see a person he's never actually talked to in a suit?

Castle opened the hall closet and pulled out a long black wool coat and a thick scarf, putting them on as he went to grab the laptop and his phone from the desk in the study. He did remember to leave a note to Meredith about where he was in case she returned early from her lunch date. He doubted it – she'd just go shopping with his credit card – but he wanted to play it safe. At the end of the little sticky note, Castle scribbled down the names and numbers of the possible agents with question marks next to them.

A cab was right outside the building, so he took that rather than wait for the car service to send someone out to SoHo. It was three past when he paid the driver and leapt from the taxi.

His seat from the day before was open and Castle claimed it with his laptop case. He opened it, starting it back up from the sleep mode it had gone into on the ride over, and finally allowed himself to maximize the document that had been taunting him all morning.

It was the writer in him that had stories spinning about her background, her childhood, her family before he even knew her. He started jotting down some of the ideas that stood out in his mind. She was the middle child with two brothers on either side of her, her protectors. Not that she couldn't hold her own with them, often besting both brothers and their friends at tree-climbing contests and foot races. Her parents were well-off enough to let their children pursue their dreams. The oldest might have gone to med school and was even now working in third-world countries with Smile Train. Then there was Katherine who decided to attend the police academy after college where she majored in English literature and sociology. The youngest brother, Castle hypothesized, went the musician's course and was touring with his little indie group in a beaten-up Volkswagen van.

He liked his fictional back story for her, smiling at the screen as he typed it all up. Then he hit the button to add a page break, keeping her make-believe biography on one page and letting him start on a fresh slate for the next part of his little exercise.

By the time he finished a few paragraphs, he stood up, stretching from side to side as he locked the laptop screen. Coffee time, since his cop hadn't shown up yet. He had been glancing up from the computer screen every couple of words, hoping for a glimpse of her Crown Victoria. It hadn't come and he was more than a little disappointed in himself.

He didn't know whether this was her usual stop for coffee or if she had simply been passing it on her way home and needed the caffeine right then and there. He didn't know whether she was working at the moment and wouldn't have time to stop for a drink just past noon; some people had set hours for their job instead of writing whenever his muse whispered in his ear, which was rarer and rarer these days. Hell, maybe he freaked her out the last time he saw her and she was now making a point to avoid this particular coffee shop for the rest of her life in case he was doing exactly what he was in the process of doing: creepily stalking her at the shop, waiting for her to enter.

Shaking his head, Castle slipped his phone into his hand and went to stand in the relatively long line at the counter. It was lunch time and people stopped in for coffee more often than they did for the pastries and little grilled sandwiches the place served. They were on their Bluetooths, seeming to chatter away to themselves as they waved their hands wildly.

He opened up one of the mindless games he had downloaded last time he had faced writer's embarrassment and started a new game. It had something to do with matching up famous quotes with their speaker. It amused him to see just how many he got right from years of research in obscure fields and how many he was so certain of only to find out he had been thinking incorrectly for years.

Castle was just matching Judy Garland to her quote "For it was not into my ear you whispered, but into my heart. It was not my lips you kissed, but my soul" with a silent message of thanks to his mother when someone hit him from behind. He fumbled with the phone, caught it in mid-air and had to think he might have a bit of ninja in him, and turned to see what had banged into his calves.

The girl was clinging to a woman's legs, her brown curls hiding her face as she pressed her cheek to black work pants. She was cute, maybe four or five, wearing a pretty red coat with a grey scarf wrapped around her neck.

But it was the woman she was holding onto in her mortification was the one that drew his attention.

It was her.

Sure, she had changed from her peacoat of yesterday into a soft leather jacket with the peek of white lining at the cuffs, but the hair and the eyes and the facial structure that he had memorized in those seconds of meeting yesterday were exactly the same. And she was staring at him just like she had before.

"Sorry," she was saying, his eyes drawn to the gentle curve of her mouth as she spoke.

Castle shook his head quickly, sliding the phone into the pocket of his jeans. "Not a problem. We all get a little excited sometimes, don't we, little one?"

"Not little!" the girl suddenly exclaimed, letting go of the woman's legs and standing on her own. "I'm five!"

The woman's shoulders shook with silent laughter, a smile across her face as she reached down to thread her fingers through the girl's hair. "Of course you are."

"And that's not little. I misspoke and I apologize." Castle was keeping a poker face though he wanted to grin.

"Accepted," said the girl with a firm nod of her head. "We're getting hot chocolate. Except Mom. She gets coffee because she's add… addic…" She scrunched up her nose, twisted to look up at the still-smiling woman. "What's the word?"

The woman's smile stayed in place as she ruffled the curls. "Addicted." And then she looked over at him and Castle swore his heart might have melted a little. "And not really."

"Yes really. You drink it all of the time." The girl freed herself from the caress over her hair. "Line moved forward."

Castle turned and saw that it had. "So it did." He took a few steps toward the counter, still four people away from ordering. "You like hot chocolate?"

The woman's hazel eyes were wary though she was working hard to keep her face impassive. Castle was good at reading people and he could tell she was watching him carefully around the girl. He was fairly certain it was her daughter though that was a detail that he had not fit into his little made-up story for her. This had him wondering about a husband, other children.

But the girl was talking, waving her hands as she explained that sometimes she was brave and tried peppermint in her hot chocolate but mostly like it plain, that she only got the drink when she was good or they were going someplace special like they were today.

* * *

><p>She was still speechless. She was standing in line for coffee with her daughter, who was animatedly talking to her favorite writer about her mother's addiction to coffee and how Al took her hot chocolate. It was like a dream or a nightmare or some sort of strange combination of both.<p>

He kept throwing her these glances that had her smiling without thinking and how could Kate really pull Al away from him because he wasn't exactly a stranger. Kate's nature had her on guard around people who casually started up a conversation with Al and best-selling mystery authors were no different.

Before Kate could stop her, Al was holding out a small hand. "I'm Al and this is my mom, Kate. Who are you?" She had tried to warn Al not to give out their names, not that they were famous, but the less people knew about you, the harder it was for them to find you again.

The man took her daughter's hand and shook it. "I'm Rick. It's nice to meet you Al." He glanced up at Kate and gave her that same smile he had given her at the book signing years ago. "And you, Kate."

"Sir, what can I get you?"

The barista startled him and Kate watched his shoulders jerk up before he turned, ordering a black coffee. Just when the woman at the cash register asked if that was it, Castle was looking over his shoulder at her. "And what they want."

"Oh no, we can't-" was as far into her protest that he let her get before shocking her even more with a finger placed over her lips even as they continued to move before stilling completely.

"It's not a problem." He stepped to the side just a bit and let her move closer. "Go on."

She let her eyes flicker toward him as she got Al's small hot chocolate and her medium latte. He gave Al's name, a gesture that had the girl grinning as she walked over to the counter where they could pick up the drinks with a gleeful "Thanks, Rick!" tossed into the air.

Kate bit her lower lip as she followed her daughter over. "You didn't need to do that, you know."

"But I wanted to. She's a nice girl. Makes me wish I had kids of my own."

"They're a handful sometimes," Kate said quietly. "But mostly they're lovely."

He had his hands in his pockets, standing at her shoulder as they waited. "Just one or…?"

Kate swallowed, shaking her head. Twice in one day. "It's just Al and I."

"That has to be tough." He looked genuinely interested in the conversation as he tilted his head to the side. "I can't image being a single parent."

"I've got lots of help." Lots and lots of help that she wasn't sure she'd be able to survive without having by her side.

Then Al was pushing her coffee cup into her hands before reaching back up to give Castle his. "Here." She waited until he had it securely in his hand before letting go. "Maybe we can see you here again?" she asked, glancing up at Kate.

Kate ghosted a smile. "Maybe, kid." Then she met his eyes for the first real time since walking into the coffee shop. "Thanks again, Rick. Perhaps next time I'll buy for us."

"I'd like that," he replied. "Have a good afternoon, Al, Kate."

He sat back at that same table she had seen him use yesterday, open up a laptop, and let his fingers fly across the keyboard as he typed in the password. She held the door for Al who went to stand next to the door of the car, waiting for Kate to unlock them.

After she buckled in, Kate had to hold onto the wheel to stop her hands from shaking. She just had a conversation with Richard freakin' Castle. Who had also bought her and her daughter drinks. And she had implied that they might meet back at the coffee shop again.

"He was nice. I like him," Al was babbling, her hands still wrapped around her warm cup. "We can see him again, right Mom?"

Kate nodded absentmindedly as she put the car into gear. "Maybe, Al. But we need to go see Espo, Ryan, and Cap now so they don't call me wondering where your cookies are."

The girl bounced in her seat. "That's right! Go, Mom! I want to see your boys!"

Okay. She could drop Al off with the boys, let her entertain them, during which time she could call up Lanie and die a little over the phone. Solid plan, Kate.


	10. Chapter 10

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>He watched them drive away, the document still open on his desktop, waiting. The cursor blinked at him from the screen but he ignored it. From their conversation, one he still wasn't entirely convinced had happened and that he'd wake up anytime now, he'd learned a whole lot about this woman.<p>

Like that she was a caffeine addict and that she went by Kate instead of the more formal Katherine. That she had some serious fashion sense and that she smelt faintly of cherries and vanilla, which had Castle wondering if it was shampoo or perfume or a combination of the two.

Though the winner on his list of new developments had to be the girl. Castle had not planned on that detail at all. Al, which had to be short for something because that was not a typical girl's name, was a mirror image of the cop. Curling brown hair that had streaks of dark blonde from time in the sun, still a little soft roundness around her cheeks but the hint of the same bone structure as her mother, and a startling ability to stand up for herself for her age. The only difference was those piercing blue eyes that he could have sworn saw right to his very soul, judging him from the inside out. Did her father have those eyes? Castle had to figure the answer was "yes" since Kate's were a warm hazel with no hint of blue in their shifting depths.

And no husband in the picture, at least for the moment. He didn't see her as divorced because who would let that woman go, but it was a possibility and would explain why she and her daughter were on their own. Castle sat back in the chair, taking a sip of his coffee as he puzzled this out. So the father was out of the picture, though he still wasn't sure if that was for good or if there were visits in a Barnes and Noble café before her father took her for the weekend.

She had said she had help with the girl. Her parents? Siblings? Friends? He wanted to think that the list included all of the above.

"Just more questions," he muttered, sitting forward and pulling the laptop closer to him.

Until he could answer them, he typed in the points that had been clarified while in line. He still wanted to know if there were brothers, doctor and musician or not, that she leaned on for help.

* * *

><p>Her prime parking spot was gone so Kate parked in the garage. She took Al's hot chocolate so that the girl could carry her cookie tins on the walk from the garage to the precinct.<p>

"Hi Peters!" Al called out, going to hit the button on the elevator before one of the detectives from Robbery could reach it. It was always a game, to see if she could beat someone to calling the elevator, one that she usually won through sheer speed or a flash of her smile. The detective didn't seem to mind, stepping back and looking over at Beckett.

"Hey there, Miss Beckett," the desk sergeant responded with a raised hand. "Keeping your mother in line?"

"Someone has to," the girl sighed dramatically as she stepped into the elevator right before Kate did.

The guy from Robbery glanced down at Al as he got off on the second floor, looking back up at Kate when the doors closed. She smiled, giving Al a little tug by the collar of her jacket closer to her leg, balancing the cups in her free hand and between her forearm and chest.

In her excitement to get off the elevator at the correct floor, Al nearly ran into one of the uniforms as they stepped in. The two dodged each other as Al ran around the divider at full-tilt, skidding to a halt next to her mother's desk.

"Hi boys!"

Both of whom were already on their feet and headed over to the girl.

"Hey Al," started Ryan, sitting on the edge of the desk as Al plopped into Kate's visitor chair, her feet dangling a few inches over the floor. "Good day at school?"

Kate grinned, leaning against the divider, her coat draped over her arm as she watched her co-workers socialize with the five year old. The boys had stood by her through some of her worst moments in the last half-decade. They'd seen her break down mid-way through the pregnancy, convinced her that she could do this when she had no faith in herself. They'd covered for her when Al had been sick as a newborn and needed to spend days in the hospital with the girl, both of them stopping by after shift to bring her food and company. They had taken on babysitting gigs when her father hadn't be available, playing dolls coming to them as easily as beating each other at Fantasy Football did and with no complaints about being seen as girly; Kate remembered a few times when they'd nearly come to blows over which of their Barbies looked better.

And Al adored them. Kate still got a kick out of the girl calling them "her boys" when in fact, Kate was certain that they both considered themselves "Al's boys."

"Mom! You gonna to come over?"

Al was looking across the bullpen from her chair, swinging her legs under the seat. What made Kate laugh was the similar expression of impatience on Ryan and Esposito's faces.

"Well if you insist," Kate said, walking over to sit in her own chair, putting her coat over the back, and pulling herself closer to the desk. "Are you going to hand out the cookies or make them suffer?" she asked, pushing one of the tins closer to her daughter.

"Suffering is always fun." Al was glancing between Ryan and Esposito, who were doing a stand-up job of masking their excitement at the prospect of food. "But I like you, so here." She popped one of the covers off and held the container out to the boys, making sure to keep it between them rather than favoring one of them. "But don't be pigs. Everyone needs to get some."

Both took a single cookie showing some incredible restraint. Kate knew they'd be the ones raiding the container in the break room after Al had disappeared, but she was happy to see them humoring the girl while she was there.

Esposito bit his first, then dramatically stumbled backwards, catching himself on the desk before he fell. Al was still halfway out of the chair, sprawled over most of Kate's desk in concern.

"Espo?"

"Sorry, sorry," he said, straightening. "Just blown away by how good this is."

Al sighed, sitting back into her seat. "You're silly. It's just a cookie."

Ryan shook his head. "No, Al. This is not just a cookie. This is a little piece of heaven."

"Mom, your boys are weird."

From over Al's shoulder, Esposito tossed Kate a wink before going to sit at his own desk, Ryan right behind him. "Tell me about it. Al, why don't you go see if Cap wants one?"

She got up, taking the open container of cookies and tucking it into her arm, and started toward Captain Montgomery's door. Then she paused, turning around and holding one out to Kate. "You need one before they run out."

"Thanks, kid," Kate said, placing the offered cookie on a spare napkin from her desk. "Go see Cap."

When Montgomery had risen, opening the door to his office to let Al in, Kate turned to Ryan and Esposito. "Anything new on the blotter?"

"All quiet on the front." Ryan had taken back the baseball from her desk and was tossing it to his partner. "The city must want it to be a nice visit for your daughter."

"How considerate," she said. A glance at her watch told her it was a little past one-thirty. Lanie might still be on her lunch break. "Can you guys watch Al for a little bit? I need to talk to Lanie."

Esposito shrugged, throwing the baseball to Kate, who caught it just before it flew past her head. "Yeah, no problem. Right Ryan?"

"No problem at all."

Kate smiled at them, giving Ryan the baseball on her way past his desk. "Thanks, guys." She knocked on Montgomery's doorframe when she reached it. "Hey, Captain."

"Your daughter has a career in the bakery business, Beckett," he said, waving the remaining cookie in his hand at her. "These are amazing."

Al took the container back from where she had placed it on the man's desk. "Grandpa did most of the work."

"Teamwork is always a good method," said Montgomery.

"Like Mom and her boys?"

The man grinned at the term, nodding. "Just like."

"Speaking of my boys, Al, you want to spend some time with them?" Kate asked, her hands hooked into the pockets of her pants. "I've got something I need to do for a little while."

"They'll let me bring cookies to the other people?"

"Definitely."

The girl gave Montgomery a last wave before bounding out of the office. "Then yes, I'll hang out with them."

"Something with the case?" he was asking, sitting back behind his desk. "Ryan and Esposito told me you were on paperwork for Kara."

Kate shook her head. "Something else with Lanie. The paperwork's nearly done. I'll have it filed by end of shift."

"Say hello to the medical examiner for me then."

She closed the door gently as she left. The boys and Al were already missing, bringing treats to the uniforms and detectives spread across the floor. Kate grabbed up her coat and keys, deciding this type of news had to be delivered in person rather than over the phone. Ryan and Esposito could entertain Al for hours, so a single one wouldn't be too much work for them, especially without a new case to work on.

"You save any of those cookies for me, Beckett?" asked Peters as she stepped off the elevator, swinging her coat on.

"I'm sure Al will be down with Ryan and Esposito to bring sugary heaven to you in a few minutes, Peters. New book?" she asked, the dark red cover unfamiliar.

He held it up, found that it was one of Patterson's that she had read ages ago. "Starting the series. Hopefully it'll keep me entertained until that Castle fellow gets his newest one out."

Kate managed to lift one shoulder noncommittally. "That series is good," was all she said before leaving to get to the morgue.

* * *

><p>Since sitting at the coffee shop and staring at the document wasn't being very productive, Castle decided to switch around his previous story to fit the new facts.<p>

He kept the brothers in, liking his characters for them even if they didn't exist in real life. After talking to her, he switched their occupations around. Instead of a doctor, the oldest went into the military, still helping people in the third world countries while serving his country. The youngest, though, stayed as a musician, toting his guitar from bar to bar in the back-towns of America.

Just as he scrolled down to the paragraphs of a story he had written for his mystery woman, his internet browser flashed, indicating a new e-mail. Castle clicked the button on the screen and immediately regretted the decision.

The e-mail was from Gina, demanding to know why the short story draft wasn't currently in her message inbox or on her desk at Black Pawn. There was a thinly veiled threat about kicking him out if said draft wasn't in one of the two listed locations by the next day followed by an overly-cheerful farewell.

Instead of opening the right folder and writing his ass off to get Gina off said body part, Castle decided to start over completely. Marlowe could pop up in another short story in the future. But right now, he had this lovely little biography of Kate Beckett and he wanted to use it.

Castle tapped his fingers against the table, frowning at the screen. Picking a name was always the hardest part of writing a story. He had tried writing without a name, but had never gotten far. He needed something to connect characteristics to and leaving blanks to fill in later hadn't worked for him. And this name was going to be important.

So he turned to his favorite source: baby name websites.

He started scrolling down the Top 1,000 names for the last few years, waiting for one to pop out at him. It was interesting to see what names people were choosing for their children these days as compared to years past. The fact that characters from Twilight were topping the list made him shiver, wonder where literature was going, and continue down the lists.

It didn't take him long to find the right one. There, about one hundred names in, was Nicole. "Victory of the people," he said to himself. "Nice."

In a new document, separate from Kate's short, albeit fictional, life-story Castle typed in the name. He didn't have a last name in mind and didn't need one. Nicole was a fine start.

Now to find her a murder to investigate.

* * *

><p>Kate breezed down the hallways of the morgue, knowing her way from years and years of taking the same path, whether to see about evidence from a case or to gossip with her best friend. She was glad it was the latter reason today.<p>

"Lanie, you won't beli-"

As she opened the door to the autopsy suite, Kate stopped in her tracks. There, next to a body, was Lanie. Not an unusual sight, though Kate had never walked in on her friend in the middle of weighing some unidentified organ as if it were nothing.

"What won't I believe?" she asked, not looking up from the scale as she read off the weight of the grey-pink lump of tissue.

Kate wrinkled her nose, not moving from the entrance of the room. "What is that?"

Lanie picked it back up and placed it in a blue bowl. "John Doe's liver. What won't I believe?" she repeated, taking her gloves off and tossing them into the trash.

She didn't beat Kate to the desk in the corner, but she did hook a thumb over her shoulder to indicate that the detective did not belong in her chair. Instead, Kate sat on the surface of the desk. "Who I met at the coffee shop after picking up Al from school."

"Who?"

Kate pulled her lower lip between her teeth, closing her eyes before speaking. "Richard Castle."

She was surprised not to hear her friend's jaw hit the floor. "Shut the front door!"


	11. Chapter 11

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>"You're lying," Lanie said, sitting back in her chair and giving Kate a kick with her shoe.<p>

Kate tilted her head at the other woman, narrowing her eyes just a little. "Would I lie about that?"

Lanie fixed Kate with a look, obviously judging her honesty as she reached for a container of trail mix from her desk. "No, you wouldn't." She held out the bowl to Kate who plucked out an M&M. "Tell me the story behind this meeting then."

"I had to pick up Al from school; she only had a half-day for teacher development. We stopped at the coffee shop I always go to since I needed real coffee and Al wanted hot chocolate. Al was walking backwards into the place and was about to run into someone and I couldn't grab her in time and she hit his legs."

"Richard Castle's legs?" Lanie asked, eating a handful of nuts and raisins.

Kate only nodded. "Right smack into his calves. Then Al had a conversation with him like it was nothing. Lanie, she told him about my coffee addiction!"

"You know you have a problem when even your five year old recognizes your inability to do anything effectively without the aid of coffee, girl." She got a glare that told her to shut up or she wouldn't get the rest of the story. Lanie waved a hand for her friend to continue.

"Then Al introduced us to him, just 'I'm Al and this is Kate, my mom.' It's not right!" Kate got up, pacing in front of Lanie's desk with her hands in the pockets of her jacket. "It's not… normal."

Lanie was still crunching on trail mix, kicking her feet up onto the corner of her desk vacated by Kate's butt and crossing her legs at the ankle. "But why isn't it normal? To Al, he's just another nice guy in line for hot chocolate. He's not a New York Times Bestseller that she waited for hours in line to get a book signed by."

Kate decided that the fact that Al had been there with her at that book signing didn't need to be shared with Lanie. "That's not the end of it. He paid for our drinks."

"So?"

"So," Kate trailed, boosting herself up onto a clean autopsy table and running her hands over her face. "That's not normal or right or anything remotely close to one of those. I mean, he barely knows who we are and he's buying us coffee and hot chocolate?"

"Sweetie, you're overreacting here a little."

"But I'm not!" This time, it was Lanie's turn to glare across the short distance at Kate. "Okay, maybe a little. It's just weird to have Richard Castle buying my daughter and me drinks. And he kept looking at me like he's seen me before, like he remembered me from somewhere."

"Have you seen him before? Since the book signing?"

Kate scrunched up her nose, thinking. "He might have been in the coffee shop yesterday when I stopped on my way to canvass Tompkins Square Park."

"And did you talk to him then?"

She shook her head. "No, I was talking to Al on the phone and he just kept staring at me. This is a disaster, Lanie." Kate let her head fall into her palms, hoping that when she opened her eyes, she would be back in bed and able to start the day over sans meeting the one author whose books she would buy without looking at the back blurb.

Lanie was up, pulling herself onto the table next to Kate, crossing her feet under her despite the uneven surface. "But why is it a disaster? It's not like you got married to him while standing in line for coffee or promised him a date this Friday, right?"

"There was one thing…"

The other woman stayed silent, waiting, picking lint off her scrubs.

"I might have told Al that we'd see if we could meet up with him sometime."

"Katherine Beckett!"

"What?" Kate exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air and letting them hit her thighs with a muffled thump. "You know how hard it is to resist Al when she wants something. And he kept looking at me with these eyes that I could swear saw into my soul and I couldn't shut Al down in front of him and Lanie, what am I going to do?"

Lanie blinked at Kate for a few moments, then slid off the autopsy table. "You're going to go see him again. With Al." Kate stared as if Lanie had just suggested that she fly off into space and live out the rest of her life on a spaceship. "Give it a week maybe. Then go back to the coffee shop and see if he is still there."

"Lanie, no…" she said, shaking her head slowly.

"Yes. If it's fate or some other cosmic being sticking their hand into your life, then he'll be there waiting. If not, you buy a cupcake and coffee and you leave." Lanie poked Kate firmly on her arm. "Deal?"

It was muttered, but Kate did say "Deal" as she got down from the table.

* * *

><p>Al led Ryan and Esposito around the Homicide floor, handing out cookies like a fairy to uniforms and plainclothes detectives they passed. The boys walked behind her, keeping close in case a suspect was being brought around a corner or if people were going to run into the girl. They were fairly certain that even if a murder suspect was being led to the Tombs, Al would have handed him a cookie and wished him a good day before she moved on.<p>

"So you stopped for hot chocolate?" asked Ryan, continuing the conversation as they walked out of the stairwell onto the floor for Anti-Crime. "Anything else?"

Al was given one of the detectives a cookie and a smile. "We talked to Rick. He's nice."

"Rick?" Esposito was waving to a friend to come over and grab a treat before they were gone. "Rick who?"

The girl shrugged. "Rick. We might see him again at the coffee shop."

"What'd he look like?" Ryan took one of the empty containers and tucked it against his side.

"Blue eyes. Brown hair. Tall." Another shrug. "Nice."

Ryan and Esposito exchanged glances over Al's head. The only 'Rick' that either of them knew Kate keeping close to her heart would be a writer that she pretended to be impartial to but pre-ordered every book and kept them on her shelf in the apartment in the correct order.

"Rick?" Esposito mouthed to his partner, who lifted a shoulder in response.

But then Al grabbed Ryan's wrist and pulled him toward the stairs. "Next floor!"

On Robbery's floor, as Al went around to the desks to give detectives cookies, Ryan and Esposito waited at the divider.

"She can't mean Richard Castle, can she?" asked Ryan, still watching Al.

"The only Rick I know Beckett talk about. Must have been a shock."

Then Al was back, holding up the second empty tin. "All out. I'll bring back more." And she started toward the elevator, dragging Esposito behind her.

"Later," whispered Esposito. "We'll find out later."

* * *

><p>"I'm going back to the Twelfth. You want me to save you some cookies that Al made with my dad?" Kate asked, looking for her keys in the pocket of her jacket.<p>

Lanie shook her head, sitting back at her desk and opening up a blank autopsy form and typing her name into the medical examiner spot. "Knowing you Becketts and your baking, there's another five containers of those cookies spread across Manhattan at various apartments. I'll find some later."

"Wouldn't be so sure of that if I was you," she tossed back as she opened the door to the hallway. "Talk to you later."

"Remember the coffee shop next week, Beckett!" Lanie called even as the door swung shut behind Kate's back.

On the ride back uptown from the medical examiner's office, Kate had plenty of time to think over Lanie's proposition, one that she still didn't see as the best idea. It wasn't that she didn't want to see him again because the fan in that deep, dark corner of her heart did want to meet up with him and share coffee and let her daughter regale him with tales of schoolwork, but it all just wasn't the typical thing for Kate Beckett to do.

Kate Beckett would pull Al back into her bubble of protection, refuse to set foot into that shop with her daughter, and maybe take out a restraining order on the author for safety's sake.

But Al had been taken with the man and Kate would not hear the end of it if she didn't at least bring the girl to the coffee shop once to prove that Richard Castle would not be waiting there for them. So she decided to go along with Lanie's plan. Next week, once Al had a chance to forget about Castle and might not mention a return trip again.

She pulled into the garage, slammed the door a little harder than strictly necessary, and headed up to the bullpen.

Ryan was sitting in her visitor chair, holding his phone out for Al. Esposito was sitting in her chair, Al perched on his knee as the girl tried her hand at the Angry Birds level Ryan was stuck on. The tip of her pink tongue was caught between her teeth in concentration; eyes squinted at the screen as she aimed the fat red bird toward the pigs off-screen.

"Haven't I mentioned something about my chair, Esposito, and you not belonging in it?" Kate asked, shedding her coat on the walk over.

The man didn't move to stand. "Yes, well, Al wanted to play Angry Birds with Ryan."

"And exactly what does that have to do with you sitting in my chair?"

Al didn't look up from the phone as she watched the bird fly across the screen and hit part of the tower protecting the birds. "It's okay. I'm done," she said, hopping off Esposito's knee and onto the ground. "Hi Mom!"

"Hey, kid. Ryan, out of her spot." The other detective got to his feet, exiting from the game application. "You two have any work?"

"We could take some of the paperwork from Kara, let you catch up your backlog," offered Esposito, flipping through some of the files on her desk with a finger. "I'm sure Records is itching to get these cases from," he paused to look at the date of one of the files, "November."

Kate wanted to insist on finishing her part of the bargain with the Kara case, but he did have a point. Some of the paperwork that had piled up on her desk was from even before November and the people down in Records did get a little grumpy about late filing.

So she sighed and pushed the files belonging to the Kara case toward Esposito. "Have fun. But let me bring them down to Records?"

"No problem, Beckett."

After the two of them walked back to their desks, dividing the work between them, Kate pulled over a file from late August and found the corresponding form that she had saved on her desktop.

"You give out all of your cookies, Al?" she asked, typing in the rest of the report.

"Yeah." Al was swinging her legs under the seat, watching Kate carefully. "Ran out though."

Kate smiled, still looking at the screen. "I'm sure we can get more from Grandpa and bring them into the other people who missed out on the first round." With a satisfying click of her mouse, she saved the file and put the manila folder into a separate pile. "Plus the boys will want a second round."

"You talk to Lanie?"

"I did. She says hi, by the way." She was searching for another really old case, wanting to work from the back of the timeline and work toward present-day. There was one from September that she tugged from under a few others.

Al then leaned on the desk, right over the file, drawing Kate's eyes down to meet hers. "You talk about Rick?"

She hesitated and in that instant, Al knew the answer. Kate nodded to confirm. "I did."

"What'd she say?" Al asked, blinking and smiling up at her mother, her chin propped on the heels of her palms.

"That she thinks you should move your arms so your mother can finish her paperwork and get you home for dinner."

"Mom," Al whined even as she shifted so Kate could move the file to the opposite side of the desk. "Really."

Perceptive little kid, Kate thought as she turned her chair the slightest toward Al. "She said that she wants some of your cookies so we'll have to save some for her. Now shush so I can finish this."

Al narrowed her eyes but didn't say anything. The faster Mom finished her paperwork meant they got home faster which meant more time to question her about Rick and the coffee shop and seeing him again.

* * *

><p>Things were working. He loved it when things just worked without little effort or thought. Words came out and made sense and just… worked.<p>

He hadn't noticed that his coffee had gone cold at the corner of his laptop or that the sun had started setting, casting a red-gold glow through the windows of the coffee shop.

Nicole had his full attention and he was happy to give it to her. She was smart, sophisticated, sexy. But what he really needed right now was his storyboard back at the loft to plot this out on. Coming up with murders, as much fun as it was, was incredibly difficult to do without a visual aid to help his mind connect the strands of information into a cohesive story. And it was just plain creepy to figure out a murder while in public on the back of a napkin.

At six o'clock, he put the laptop into sleep mode, coiled the charger up and put all of it into the travel case. Meredith wouldn't be back to the apartment until late, judging from the time the shows let out on Broadway, so he'd have the place to himself. She hated it when he played music, yes a little too loudly, from the study while he wrote, but he needed the background music in order to concentrate. And with this new character and storyline, he sensed he'd need some serious rock music, maybe some air guitaring between scenes, and it would be better for both of them if Meredith were absent for the next few hours.

He took a cab back to the loft, wished the driver a good evening, and hopped out. Eduardo grabbed the door before he could reach it.

"Good day, Mr. Castle?" he asked, his voice hinting at his Spanish background as he returned to the front desk of the building.

He nodded at the doorman, hitting the button on the elevator. "It really was. And yours?"

The man shook his head. "Can't complain. Would do no good."

"Spoken like a true philosopher. Have a good night, Eduardo," Castle responded as he stepped into the elevator car.

"You too, Mr. Castle," was Eduardo's reply.

He was whistling a tune that he couldn't name while he unlocked the door. Except the apartment that he had left dark that afternoon was suddenly awash with light.

"Meredith?" he called, walking forward and glancing toward the living room, the one place his girlfriend might possibly be.

Instead, it was a familiar head of hair that he found sitting on the couch. She was holding a glass of wine, the half-empty bottle on the coffee table in front of her, her barefeet propped up on the table. The hair color was the same as Meredith's though it was the bright green and turquoise dress that gave her away.

"Mother?"

Martha Rodgers turned her head and Castle didn't even register the dull thud of his laptop case hitting the ground as he ran around the couch. He sat next to her, plucking the wine glass from her hand moments before she curled against his side.

"What's wrong?" he asked, running a hand over her arm, more than a little confused.

She had moved out almost six months ago after getting married for a second time, certain that two was her lucky number, not three. Paul had made her feel young and beautiful and had joined her on duets from shows she had performed in. Castle had liked the man and had told his mother that when she had come to him to ask his advice about accepting Paul's proposal. They had talked often, either over the phone or going out to dinner with Paul and Meredith in tow.

Castle nearly missed his mother's response while lost in his thoughts. "He's gone."

"Who's gone, Mother?"

Martha pulled back, using the long sleeve of her dress to wipe at mascara that had stained her cheeks. "Paul is gone. With the money. All of it."

He had another instant before she tugged him into a hug, her head resting on his shoulder. "What am I going to do, Richard?"

"We'll figure it out, Mother. We'll figure it out."

As soon as I figure out how to explain this to Meredith, he thought to himself. Because that's not going to be an easy task.


	12. Chapter 12

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>It was Saturday and Kate was doing something that only happened once in a blue moon: sleeping in. She had curled up under all of her blankets, tugging the comforter over her head, and blocked out the sunlight that peeked through the blinds.<p>

There was no muffled sound of Al waking up coming through the layers of blankets. Another wonder.

And she had the entire day off to just sleep. Sleep and eat and maybe read for a little while all in the comfort of her own apartment in her pajamas with her phone on silent.

"Mom! Mom, wake up!"

The girl hit her side as she leapt onto the bed, sitting on her stomach and pulling the blankets down from over her face.

Al was wide awake. Not groggy having just rolled out of bed, but going full-tilt. All without the help of breakfast which Kate needed in order to feel truly awake. Al needed none of it.

Keep your eyes closed and your breathing steady, Kate told herself. She might go away. Then she wondered how she had missed the sounds of her daughter waking up in the first place.

Al wasn't going to leave. Next thing she knew, the girl was burrowed down in the sheets next to her, pressing her cold feet to Kate's thigh just as she framed Kate's face with equally chilly hands.

Kate yelped, wiggling away from the girl. "Al!" she managed as her daughter squirmed closer even as Kate retreated across the bed. Summoning all of her composure, Kate put on her best Mom look and leveled the glance at Al. "Alexandra Beckett, quit it ri-" was as far as she got before the mattress ended.

Determined not to go down alone, Kate wrapped her arms around Al just as she toppled off the bed, landing on the part of the comforter that slid to the ground. Al was giggling wildly on top of her, her cheek pressed to Kate's shoulder.

"Mom, we fell," was audible between bursts of laughter.

"We did. Whose fault is that?" Kate asked, running a hand over Al's now-tangled hair.

The girl turned her face and buried her nose into Kate's collarbone. "Yours."

"Oh really?" Without warning, Kate flipped them over and tickled Al's sides, right under her ribs where Kate knew she was the most ticklish.

The shrieking increased tenfold as did the twisting to get free. Kate wasn't having any of it as she blew a raspberry on Al's stomach and pulled away before the girl could grab her hair.

"Whose fault was it?" she asked again, her fingers dancing over Al's sides as a warning even as the girl had her eyes clenched shut.

"Mine, Mom. Stop tickling!"

Kate got up, untangling her feet from the comforter and sheets they had brought with them to the floor, then swung Al up so she was standing. "Awake now?"

Al pushed her hair back from her face, trying to glare but failing. "Yes!" She took a deep breath, steadying herself after the tickle attack, and trying to remember exactly why she had taken the risk of waking her mother up so early. Oh yes. "Mom!"

"Yes, kid?" Kate called back, going to brush her teeth and comb her hair into a semblance of order after the fight.

"It's been a week." Al followed Kate into the bathroom, taking down the spare brush and pulling it over her own curls.

"A week since what?"

A glance down showed her that Al had indeed inherited the ability to raise her brow and look disapproving without practice. "I wanna see Rick again."

Richard Castle. Kate had hoped the girl would have forgotten about the encounter and the promise of maybe seeing the man again. Obviously not. She wasn't exactly surprised since Al had a startling ability to remember things when it worked in her favor. "Rick who?" Kate asked, separating her hair into three sections and braiding it, walking back into the bedroom to sit on the edge of the bed.

"Rick the nice man from the coffee place."

"Ohhh. That Rick. Well…" Al was smiling expectantly. Lanie had told her to wait a week and go back. Maybe he wouldn't be there and then they could go shopping or something instead of spending the morning talking to a bestseller like it was a completely normal experience for them. "Maybe if we get dressed, we can go to the coffee shop and see if he's around."

Al was gone from the room in an instant, bounding off toward her room to get changed. "Yes!"

Kate figured this meant she needed to get into real clothes instead of her pajamas like she had planned to spend the entire day. Next day off, there would be no coffee shops or trips outside of any kind; just the couch and a good book.

They met in the living room, Al struggling with her sneakers' laces and waving Kate's help off with a muttered "I got it." So Kate slipped her feet into a pair of ballet flats, wrapping her scarf around her neck an extra time before pulling on her coat.

The bows on Al's shoes were an interesting shape and Kate suspected that they'd be untied by the time they reached the lobby of the building, but the girl was happy and was already buttoning up her coat when Kate turned around from getting her phone from the charger.

"Let's go, Mom!"

Kate let herself be led from the apartment by Al's hand, stopping her to lock the door, before going down the stairs and finding a taxi to bring them to the coffee shop. The entire time, she had her fingers crossed in her pocket, hoping he wouldn't be there at the same time as she prayed he would.

* * *

><p>Castle was sure that he needed a drink. A glance at the clock told him it was only eight o'clock in the morning, but the urge to hide in his study with a bottle of aged whiskey was overwhelming.<p>

"Richard, I just don't understand why she has to stay here."

The sound of her voice was starting to grate on him as he poured out coffee and had to stop his hand from reaching for the liquor cabinet to make the drink a little more effective. Instead, he turned and leaned back against the counter, taking a long sip from the mug.

Meredith was perched on one of the bar stools at the island, a glass of orange juice sitting at her elbow as she nibbled on a piece of toast sprinkled with cinnamon sugar. Even in the early hour, her hair was done in a pretty up-do, a few red-gold wisps falling onto her cheeks. Her make-up was applied almost as soon as she was awake and Castle was still sure that some pixies did it for her while she slept. Even in the chill of February, Meredith was wearing a sleeveless black sheath dress, her white cardigan tossed over her shoulders.

Pretty in the morning light, Castle had to think even as he worked to hold back the need to scream a little.

"Her husband took all of her money. He left her. Alone. Without anything." He paused after each statement, hoping that it would emphasize the magnitude of what had happened to his mother.

She didn't seem to get it. "Yes, but aren't there other places she could stay? Hotels, friends' houses?" Meredith took a bite of her toast, brushing the crumbs onto the plate as she raised a brow across the kitchen at him.

The same argument they'd been having for the past week. He didn't understand what Meredith had against his mother but for some reason, she had made it her mission to get Martha out of the guest room upstairs and back on her own. Castle had blocked every try, insisting that if his mother wanted to stay in the loft until she got onto her feet again, she was welcome.

"Yes, but she's staying here. If she wants to move to the Plaza, I'll help her do that. If she wants to move to a SRO tomorrow in Harlem, I'll carry her things over." He pushed off from the counter, placing his coffee mug on the polished surface as he dug in the fruit bowl for an apple. He pulled out a knife from another drawer and started cutting the fruit into wedges. "But for now, here is where Mother wants to be so here she will stay until her plans change."

Meredith rolled her eyes, running a finger over the lip of the glass. "But Richard…"

The knife hit the counter with a sharp snap, one that had her blue eyes jumping up to his in surprise.

"No." Castle gathered up the apple wedges and his coffee. "She's staying."

He didn't trust himself to be in the room and not say something he'd regret later. Silently, he carted the items into the study and kicked the door closed with his foot.

The clothesline behind his desk had the short story for the anthology hanging, page by page, from it. He had finished it a few days ago, getting Marlowe out of his system so he could focus on writing a few chapters of Nicole's story and bringing that to Paula to propose to Black Pawn. He hadn't done much work on her, lately, wanting to learn more about her inspiration before digging himself too deep.

Castle didn't sit at the desk or go to look at the SmartBoard page he had started for Nicole. He went to the bedroom, eating another slice of apple as he closed that door as well, making it abundantly clear to Meredith that he wanted to be alone. Instead of moping, he changed out of his sweatpants and white v-neck into jeans and a dark blue shirt unbuttoned over a grey t-shirt, pulling on sneakers before picking up the coffee again and downing it.

Out. He needed to get out for a while.

He hesitated in the study, looking at his laptop. He could write, clear his mind. Sometimes writing it all down, making sense of his emotions, helped. But toting the laptop and charger would take time that he didn't want to waste. Castle rummaged in one of the drawers and found a still-empty notebook. Perfect. He tucked a few pens and a pencil into his pocket and grabbed his phone.

Meredith was still at the kitchen island, a magazine open on the surface next to her as she flipped through the pages. She looked back when the study door clicked open but tried to disguise the motion as a hair-tuck.

"I'm going out for a while. I have my phone," he said, not giving her a choice in stopping him.

But once he was in the elevator, he had no idea where to go.

The coffee shop. It would be relatively quiet and he could get some plotting done if anything. Even though Kate and Al hadn't reappeared in the past week, he was holding onto a last thread of hope that he hadn't frightened the woman off. The girl had seemed friendly enough but throughout the entire exchange, Kate had been masking her suspicion with kindness. Castle couldn't really blame her; he was a stranger that was being overly nice to them and she was a cop, one that lived on the edge of danger and knowing what strangers could do to one another.

But still, he wanted to see them again. It was more than just doing some character research for Nicole. The woman herself interested him. He wanted to know her story, her daughter's story, for more than a book. He wanted to know for the sake of knowing.

And the first step was meeting them again.

So he grabbed a cab and ran his thumb along the edge of the Moleskin notebook, as he hoped that this time, his hours spent sitting at that table in the coffee shop wouldn't be wasted by staring at the door and waiting for Kate and Al Beckett to walk through it.


	13. Chapter 13

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>Al was first out of the cab when it pulled up outside the coffee shop. Kate managed to climb out in time to snag her daughter's coat before she ran right into a man in a suit talking on his phone on his way to work. As she turned to pay the driver, Al bounced back and forth along the length of the cab, dancing around people rushing past them then back to Kate's side once the taxi drove off.<p>

The little bell on the door jingled as they walked in, Al running ahead to check at the table he had been at last time.

It was empty.

"But… but, he needs to be here." Al turned and Kate hated that those clear blue eyes were fogging up with tears that hadn't fallen yet. "He…" She buried her head into Kate's thigh, shaking her head. "Mom."

Kate ran her hand over Al's hair, looking at the table and wishing he'd materialize there. Not for her sake, but for Al, the girl so sad not to see the man she had met only once before.

"I know, kid."

She was sniffling as she pulled away. "Can we wait? Just in case?"

Kate sat Al at the table, draping her jacket over the back of the other chair. "We'll wait for a while." She left Al there, watching their coats, while she went to get coffee, a little container of milk for Al, and muffins for breakfast. She was at the front of the line, talking to the barista, when she heard her daughter scream.

* * *

><p>He was caught in traffic. That's what he got for storming out of his own apartment at rush hour and expecting to get somewhere in a reasonable time.<p>

"Sorry, dude," said the driver, tapping along with the music from the radio on the steering wheel.

Castle waved him off, pulling a pencil from his pocket. "Not your fault." He opened the notebook and started doodling along the top of the page, little swirls covering the top margin like ocean waves.

Still, he willed the cars in front of the taxi to move faster. Bored even with the drawing that he was creating on his notebook, Castle started scribbling possible murders. It sometimes creeped him out that his mind would come up with half of these but that was usually a good sign; if it made his skin crawl a little, it would transfer over to his readers. Icicles to someone's stomach that melted away leaving no evidence was his latest theory and he was making a list of problems the killer would face in offing someone in that manner when the car halted.

The driver had stopped at a set of lights a block from the coffee shop and the intersection was snarled so that even when the lights changed, the car wouldn't be moving anywhere fast.

Castle closed the notebook on the pencil, shifting so he could find his wallet in his back pocket. He pulled out a few bills, handing them up to the driver. "I'll walk from here. Thanks, man."

He climbed out, shut the door, and started off down the sidewalk toward the coffee shop. His hands were in the pockets of his jacket, the notebook tucked between his arm and side, as he shouldered past 9 to 5-ers.

When he reached the coffee shop, he stopped in his tracks at the sight through the large window.


	14. Chapter 14

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>Just inside the coffee shop, right at his table, was Al. Except unlike the last time they had met, she wasn't smiling and laughing. She looked completely terrified, huddled as far back into the cushioned armchair as possible.<p>

When he ran closer to the shop, determined to stop whatever or whoever had put that look of fear in the girl's eyes, he had to pause again at a second, jaw-dropping sight of the day.

* * *

><p>When Kate heard Al's scream, she whirled around, her hand immediately going for her service weapon at her hip. Across the coffee shop, at Castle's table, sat Al, curled into her chair as a man held onto her upper arm.<p>

He was huge, all broad shoulders and bulging biceps, towering over the five year old. Kate couldn't see around his body to know if he held a weapon so she pulled her gun out. Better safe than sorry.

"Police. Let the girl go." Her voice was steady, in cop-mode rather than panicking-mother-mode. She had to tunnel her vision toward the man, not see her daughter's frightened eyes or she'd break.

The man turned, his hands raised up to his ears. "You gonna stop me, woman?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I am." Kate took a step toward the man, her gun still level. "Step away from her." When he visibly hesitated, she pushed. "Now."

And he did, sidestepping until he was a few feet from the table and Al.

Then he ran, pushing aside businessmen and a woman holding a baby in her arms, headed for the door. Kate glanced at her daughter, shaken up but okay, and went after him, her gun still in her hand. She took the path cleared for her by the man, ducking under one suited man's arm and slipping out of the door right on the man's heels.

He collided with Castle, who had been staring at the event through the window. Castle stumbled, but managed to catch his balance in time to swing a punch at the other man's face, his fist colliding with an audible pop.

It didn't stop the Hulk. He shook his head and started back down the sidewalk.

"Mr. Castle, down!" Kate shouted, aiming the gun at the man's back.

The writer did as she said, crouching down against the front of the coffee shop, watching as Kate ordered the man to stop.

When he didn't, Kate fired. The huge man stopped then, falling onto his face with a grunt. She hadn't gone for a chest shot. Instead, the man's calf had been her target and was currently creating a red pool under his leg.

With one hand, Kate holstered her gun, flipping the safety back on, and found her phone in her jeans pocket. As she walked over, Castle heard her talking to someone named Esposito about getting a bus and a marked car down to their address.

"Should have stopped, buddy," she said, going to stand at the man's elbow to wait for the cruiser and ambulance. The man groaned in response.

* * *

><p>Castle was still a little in shock. And his knuckles were killing him, but he was more interested in the woman even now standing by a man who she had just shot. He could see that her hands were starting to shake a bit and suspected it was not entirely the cold's fault. Research only told him so much, but he figured the adrenaline rush was starting to wear thin and her body was coming down of its short-lived high.<p>

"Mr. Castle."

His name had him looking up, down the sidewalk. "Yeah?"

She jerked her head toward the coffee shop. "Could you go in and see how Al's doing? I can't leave him."

He nodded quickly, picking up his fallen notebook and abandoning the pencil that had skittered out of the pages when it dropped. "Yeah, sure."

Inside the coffee shop, things had calmed down. The baristas were back to serving coffee and pastries, people were talking on their phones or with friends. But he didn't see any of them. He turned just inside the door and went to the table he had unofficially claimed as his own.

Al was still in a ball in the forest green armchair, her knees pulled up to her chest and her chin resting on them. Her arms were shaking, a mirror to her mother's, as they wrapped around her shins.

Castle approached slowly, not wanting to scare her any further. "Hey, Al." He waited until her blue eyes turned on him to get closer, holding out his notebook. "You like drawing?" She nodded. Castle set the book on the table, searched his pocket for a pen, placing it next to the open page. "Here. We can draw until your mom gets back, okay?"

The girl picked up the pen and tugged the notebook closer. Then she blinked, looking at the page that just had his earlier wave doodles at the top. Castle saw her face crumble an instant before he heard "Rick…"

He was out of the other chair, scooping Al up into his lap as she start to cry. Playing it by ear, in completely foreign waters, he rubbed his hand up and down her back as Al turned her head into his shoulder, her hands grabbing onto the thick material of his jacket.

"Shhhh… It's okay, sweetie. You're okay and Mom is okay."

Al sniffled next to his ear, shifting so she could speak. "Bad man…"

"Yes, there was a bad man. But Mom took care of it. Bad man won't hurt you again."

The little body on his lap shuddered, obviously trying to halt the tears and failing. "Scared."

Me too, Al, he thought, rubbing soothing circles on her back. His hand was starting to ache again but he ignored it. "It was scary. It's okay now."

Outside, he saw a cruiser pull up against the curb, its lights flashing into the shop. Al lifted her head enough to turn it and look out the window, resting it back on his chest. Her fists were still curled around his jacket's lapels, securing her to him. Two uniforms got out, jogging out of sight to go get the wounded man secured.

A minute later, Kate came into their line of sight, running to the door and jerking it open.

"Mom!" Al said, looking over at her from Castle's chest.

Kate picked the girl up, hugging her against her own body. Al's loose hair was swiping at Kate's tears that she finally let fall. "Oh my sweet girl," she murmured.

Castle watched as Kate sank into the other chair, Al still cradled in her arms, one hand up against the girl's neck. She was still shaking, but it was slowing and he sensed that having her daughter with her was playing a large part in that. He stood up, placing a hand on her shoulder.

"You want something to drink?" he asked, leaning over.

She nodded. "Water. Just water."

He waited in line, glancing back over at the cop and girl. Al had her head against Kate's shoulder and Kate was whispering into the girl's ear. Then, Kate looked at him and smiled. It was small, barely a lifting of the corners of her mouth, but it was a smile. He returned it, just as tentative, before getting them a couple of bottles of water, a blueberry muffin, cheese Danish, and a chocolate croissant.

When he brought the food and water over to their table, the notebook had been moved across the surface and Al was drawing stick figures silently. Her tongue was sticking out between her teeth as she concentrated on the figure she was working on.

"We've got choices," he said, setting all of the breakfast pastries on the table in a line down the center before sitting. "Whichever you two want."

Kate only reached for the bottle of water closest to her, unscrewing the cap, and taking a drink around her daughter's head. "Thanks, Mr. Castle," she said, her voice quiet as if she didn't want to startle Al. "I'll pay you back once we get up."

"No." She opened her mouth to protest but he continued. "Not this time. Next time, maybe, but not this morning. This is on me."

"Thanks." Then she ducked her head, speaking into Al's ear as she started on a stick cat. "Allie-bug, you want to eat something?"

Al nodded, not taking her eyes off the cat. Kate set the water bottle down and picked up the muffin, breaking the top off and setting it on a napkin in front of the girl. "Here, sweetie."

Castle could almost sense the change in the woman, even after seeing her all of three times. This wasn't the cop sitting across from him; it was the mother. Her voice was soft and she kept a hand on Al at all times, as if reassuring herself that the girl was here. There were nicknames coming out of her for her daughter he hadn't heard from her before.

"Why were you here?" she asked, looking up through her lashes as she took a piece of the croissant.

He sipped from the remaining bottle of water. "I needed to write. This place is calm, quiet. Sometimes I need it instead of the chaos up here," he said, gesturing to his head.

"Ahh…" She ate the bit of croissant, nodding. "Makes sense, actually."

"And today, I really just needed a break from reality for a while." When she kept nodding while holding out a piece of the muffin to Al, who took it and ate it without really looking from the page, he felt compelled to continue. "My girlfriend and I had a fight."

That had her glancing from her daughter's drawing. "Meredith LaClare?" Then he was enchanted as a pale blush spread across the top of her cheeks. "I read People."

He didn't comment on her knowledge, didn't want to make her uncomfortable. "Yes." Then he figured he might as well take the plunge and tell her everything from the past week. "My mother's husband left her with nothing. Took all of their money and ran."

"Oh…"

"She's living with me, in my guest room, which is fine. I love her and she's hurting." He took a bite from the Danish, taking the moment to think through the next steps. "Meredith doesn't like her. I don't know why, but she doesn't want Mother in the apartment. We fought and I left. And here I am."

When he looked back up from the Danish on the napkin in front of him, Kate is watching him carefully. Not like she's going to run, but just judging with those hazel eyes. "What are you going to do?"

He let his head fall into his hand, rubbing his eye with the heel. "I have no idea."

"The situation stinks all around," she said, playing with the ends of Al's hair. "In my opinion, that is."

"Why did the man leave your mom?"

Both of them were surprised to hear Al's voice, a whisper in the silence at the table.

"We don't know, Al," Castle responded, twirling the water bottle in his hands.

"That's sad."

Kate pressed a kiss to Al's head. "Yes. It is. Eat, sweetie."

Al reached out and took another piece of the muffin, nibbling it. Kate did the same thing, breaking off some of the croissant.

"Talk to your girlfriend, Mr. Castle," Kate said, taking another sip of the water. "See why she doesn't want your mother in the same place as her. See if you can resolve the differences. That might help."

* * *

><p>Kate felt the need to take a step back. Was she really sitting across from him, giving him relationship advice? Was she even qualified to give relationship advice in the first place? Her track record wasn't exactly a shining example to follow.<p>

But she did know what it felt like to be abandoned. Sure, her abandonment had been her own fault, her own drunk, stupid ass self's fault. But still, it stung a little raising Al mostly alone.

And his mother must be feeling some of that sting right now. She was lucky to have a son that seemed so torn about what to do with the situation at his feet.

"You're right." He nodded firmly, eating another bite of the nearly-consumed Danish. "I'll do that. Talk to them, that is."

Kate smiled. "Good plan, if I don't say so myself."

He laughed and she had to appreciate that for the first time since she had walked in after the shooting, he looked okay. "That's because you came up with it."

"Then it must be golden. Us women know what we're doing, right, Al?" she asked, leaning down again to talk into the girl's ear.

Al lifted her free hand, the not still holding the pen as she drew what looked like flowers, and patted Kate's cheek. "Duh, Mom."

They finished the breakfast, exchanging comments about the weather which was finally warming up for the March 'in like a lion, out like a lamb' superstition and the news about budget cuts in the city. As Kate gathered up Al, setting the girl on her feet so that Kate's own legs could wake up from the sleep they were in, the girl handed Castle back the notebook.

He went to open it and she shook her head. "Wait." Then she cupped her mouth to whisper something to him. He leaned down so she could place her pinky finger of her cupped hand against his hair. "Secret."

"Okay," he whispered back, straightening just as Kate flipped her braid out from the collar of her jacket. "Thank you both."

Kate tilted her head to the side, her eyes squinting as she smiled. "Why?"

"For calming me down. For talking." He shrugged. "It's what I needed."

It was Al that answered for both of them with a pat of her hand on his thigh. "Welcome, Rick."

The three of them walked from the coffee shop together, Al holding Kate's hand the entire time. Still shaken, Kate decided. Might be okay to spend the rest of the day in pajamas while cuddling on the couch.

"Can we share a cab somewhere?" he asked.

The woman in Kate wanted to say yes, to spend more time with the man that she was finding to be different from the writer she knew. The cop in her said no, that taking the cab with him would mean him finding her address, something she fiercely protected.

He seemed to sense her hesitation. "I can get dropped off first, if that bothers you. I don't mind you knowing where I live."

"Okay."

Castle hailed a cab, let Kate get in first before Al did. Kate was buckling Al's seatbelt before doing her own when Castle gave his address. She knew it was in SoHo from the street it was located at.

The building the cab stopped in front of was like any of the surrounding ones. Nothing proclaimed that Richard Castle, New York Times Bestseller, lived there. And still, Kate liked it. It was unassuming, not as flashy as she would have thought for him.

Kate didn't object this time when he said he'd pay for their ride to her apartment, telling the cabbie to keep whatever change was left over. Then, a hand braced on the roof of the sedan, he leaned back into the interior.

"Again, thank you."

She shrugged, smiling. "Good luck, Rick."

He was blinking in mild astonishment at the use of his first name, something she hadn't done since meeting him, when he pushed back from the taxi. He waved and was happy to see Al return the gesture.

On the elevator ride to his floor, he opened the notebook to the first page where Al had been drawing. The paper had three stick figures, one tall, one short, the other in a height between the first two. The tall one had short, spiky hair, roughly drawn shirt and pants. The other wore a dress with squiggly hair hitting her shoulders. Then there was the third, wearing pants and a shirt as well, but with the same hair as the short one. There was also a cat, some flowers around them, a sun in the sky.

Under it, in slanted letters, was "Thank you Rick."

Castle was able to excuse the missing comma this one time.


	15. Chapter 15

**_Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop_  
><strong>

* * *

><p>He walked into the apartment, the notebook closed on the drawing, keeping the secret. 'Still Hurting' was filling the place and Castle knew that it was his mother on the piano, singing along. Meredith wasn't a Broadway fan and wouldn't get caught knowing the notes to a showtune. But the diva of the Great White Way would be ashamed if she couldn't name a tune from the first few measures.<p>

Castle toed off his shoes, leaving them just inside the doorway.

"Hey, Mother," he said, brushing a kiss over the woman's cheek.

Her fingers didn't falter as she gave him a small smile. "Hey, kiddo."

She was back to playing Jason Robert Brown, her eyes focused on the black and white keys. Castle found himself humming along as he went into the study, leaving the door open. He tucked the notebook with Al's drawing into the drawer of his desk, hiding it under a few old leaves of paper with pointless drawings and scribbling of him working through writer's embarrassment. No reason for Meredith to be poking around his stuff and find it.

"Richard!"

The piano stopped as the door closed. He managed to get to the living room in time to see the two redheads pass each other. Martha was going up the stairs to the guest room just as Meredith shook her hair out after pulling off her scarf.

"Richa- Oh, there you are," she said as she turned to face the living room and saw him. She tossed her jacket and scarf over the back of the couch, walking over to where he still stood in the doorway. His eyes weren't on his girlfriend, but on the stairwell where his mother had disappeared to.

Meredith stopped in front of him, one of her heeled feet between his stocking feet, her fingers dancing under the open shirt. "I hate leaving when we fight." When he didn't speak, she tilted her head, moving closer. "What's wrong?"

"We need to talk, Meredith." He was impressed that his voice was level, not a shout to get out and he'd have her things shipped wherever. Before he could make that mistake, Castle turned and ran a hand over his hair, walking around her and sitting on the couch.

"Richard, what happened to your hand?" she asked, following him over and sitting just a little too close for the conversation he was planning.

So he shifted a few inches away, taking his hand back from her lap. "About this morning."

"What about this morning?" she sighed, shrugging her shoulders. "It was a fight. They happen. It's normal."

"Yes, but not this time." Castle closed his eyes for a second, bracing himself for this. "Meredith, this is my mother we're talking about. Not an ex-girlfriend or a friend or an acquaintance. My mother. And she will always come before any of the above people. That includes you." He faltered when he saw Meredith's face fall a little. "Why don't you want her here? What about her drives you to want her gone so much?"

She tried to get up, but he caught her wrist and tugged her back to the couch. This talk needed to happen and she wasn't going to be allowed to run away. "Richard…"

"No, Meredith. Tell me."

"It's going to sound petty and selfish…" Stalling. He gave her a quick squeeze on the wrist. A warning. "She gets more time with you than I do!"

It hits him in the stomach. She's jealous. Jealous of his relationship with his mother. Castle has to stand, pace over to the windows with his hands pulling through his hair to calm down. Meredith is jealous of how much time he spends with his family, his only family.

"I mean, I barely get to see you between auditions and meetings and you writing and going out to dinner with her. And now that she's here," Meredith said, her voice raising a little as she continues, "she'll just have more chances to take you from me. Richard, I'm your girlfriend!"

Time to make a decision, he told himself. So he tried, as calmly as possible, to turn around and face her from across the living room. Not trusting his hands, he stuffed them into his pockets. "Listen, Meredith. She's my mother. If I have to chose, it's going to be her every time. That might hurt, but she's the only family member I have and I am not going to lose that to a relationship with you."

"Are you giving me an ultimatum?" Meredith stayed sitting, the position of prey rather than the predator, all soft red hair and pretty dress and sparkling jewels.

"Listen. Either you get used to Mother being in the loft with us or this," he said with a quick nod in the space between them, "is over. I can't be forced to choose you over my mother, Meredith, no matter how much I might love you."

Instead of feeling conflicted or bad about the statement, Castle felt a few pounds of weight lifted off his shoulders as he kept his eyes fixed on Meredith's surprised blue.

* * *

><p>Kate changed out of the jeans and sweater, getting back into the leggings and an old, baggy sweatshirt. She pulled her hair out of the braid, threading her fingers through the strands to untangle them, walking back down the hall to Al's room.<p>

The girl had been strangely quiet the entire cab ride back to the apartment after dropping Castle off at his place. She'd snuggled against Kate's side, her chin tucked down against her chest, playing with the fringe of Kate's scarf. The chatterbox had said maybe three words on the short trip from SoHo to TriBeCa.

She was sitting in the middle of her bed, still wearing her coat and clothes from their trip out, twisting her hands in her lap.

"Hey, Al," Kate said, leaning her shoulder on the doorframe. "You gonna come cuddle on the couch?" Al nodded, slowly. "Change into your pajamas, Allie-bug. I'll get our book and some blankets."

She took the thick blankets from the chest at the foot of her bed, a combination of quilts and microfiber throws that she took out during the winter to fortify their comforters. She tossed them onto the couch before checking the bookshelves. The two of them had been slowly working through _Charlotte's Web_, a chapter a night before bed usually, but today called for something a little lighter than Charlotte and Wilbur and Fern.

So instead of the worn copy of the children's book, Kate found Dr. Seuss tucked between her mystery novels and the other children's books that had been acquired over the years. Some of them had come from bookstore trips with her daughter, others her father had brought over from storage from when Kate had been that age.

"Mom, can we have Oreos and peanut butter?" Al asked, coming down the hall with her own blanket from the bed around her shoulders like a cape.

Kate grabbed up the girl, swinging her around twice before plopping her onto the pile of blankets of the couch. The laughter that bubbled up out of Al had Kate's heart lightening. "Of course we can, kid."

Al scrambled back off the couch to carry over the small pile of children's books, the blanket-cape still secured around her neck. "We gonna read?"

"Yes indeed. Then we can watch a movie and paint our nails and play with our hair." Kate was taking down the jar of peanut butter and finding the Oreos from where she hid them along with a pair of knives from the silverware drawer.

When Kate tucked her stocking feet under her body on the couch, Al cuddled into her side, ducking under one arm. "What're we going to read first?"

"Hair!" Al said, throwing her arms up in the air as much as possible from her position tucked against Kate's side. "Hair first, read after."

Kate set the Oreos and peanut butter on the ground next to the couch, twirling her finger over Al's head. "Spin so I can do yours."

The girl turned, stretching her legs out along the rest of the couch, wiggling her toes. "Princess braids, Mom!"

Princess braids, huh? "Leia or…" What was another princess with braids?

Al looked over her shoulder with a tilt of her head. "Like yours, Mom. Princess."

Just a plain braid is a princess one? While Al fixed her with her blue eyes, Kate smiled. "I have princess hair?"

"Yes. A pretty braid, please," she said, patting her hair, looking back at her toes.

Kate finger-combed her daughter's hair before starting a smooth braid in the middle of the girl's scalp. Al was mumbling the words to a song that Kate hadn't heard before. As she leaned down closer to Al's cheek to hear the lyrics and grinned; they were nonsense lyrics. Right brained. The girl was living completely in her right brain.

She snapped the hair elastic around the tiny end of the braid that barely reached past the nape of Al's neck. "Done, Princess Alexandra." Kate pressed a kiss to the girl's cheek.

"Your turn! Spin," Al demanded, twisting her finger just as Kate had minutes before.

Kate quickly tugged her hands through her hair before handing Al the second hair elastic around her wrist and facing the arm of the couch. "Have at me. Be kind."

Al giggled, then let her fingers dive into her mother's thick brown hair. "You're gonna have a princess braid too, Mom."

The girl was having a little more difficulty due to pretty much no practice braiding, but Kate was more than willing to let her try her hand at it. She felt her daughter's fumbling fingers try and twist the strands into a semblance of a braid.

Her phone rang, buried under the pile of blankets and Dr. Seuss books. Al dropped the strands of hair and dug for the phone, hitting the button to answer it without checking the caller ID.

"Hello?" Then her face lit up as she heard who was on the other end. "Espo!"

Kate could hear her co-worker on the phone asking how his main chiquitita was. She leaned forward, picked up the remote for the television and DVD player, turning the systems on. As Al chattered with the Latino detective, Kate held up the two options for the afternoon: Little Mermaid or Mulan. Al pointed to Little Mermaid and Kate popped the disc out, setting it on the disc drive, getting to the main menu.

"Yeah, here," Al's saying, holding the phone out to Kate. "It's Espo."

Kate gave Al the DVD remote, whispered to get the movie started and that she'd be back in a minute. She walked down the hall and heard the opening scene of the movie start even in the doorway of her bedroom.

"You get him?"

"Yeah, we got him. What'd he do?" Esposito asked.

Kate swallowed hard, leaning her back against the doorframe. "Tried to grab Al from the coffee shop where we were having breakfast. Wouldn't stop running so I shot him in the leg."

"Al's okay though?"

"Al's fine. We're spending the day on the couch doing all sorts of girly stuff. Keep her mind off it." Kate pushed off the doorframe, walked into her room and sat on the edge of the still-unmade bed. "She was shaken. Listen, I just need him booked. Find something to get him to court. I'll give my statement to IAB when I come in tomorrow for the justified shooting, but I just needed him in holding."

There was muffled yelling in the background of the phone before Esposito came back on. "No problem, Beckett. Anything for my favorite honorary niece."

"Thanks. And send that along to Ryan, too." She heard the man mentioned shout back "You're welcome!" before they hung up.

When she got back into the living room, turning the phone on silent and putting it on the counter, Al was wrapped up in one of the blankets, just her head poking out of the quilt. On-screen, Ariel's sisters were singing under the direction of Sebastian. Both Al and Kate knew that the red-haired mermaid wasn't in that silly shell but rather off searching for treasure with Flounder.

Al's eyes were drifting shut already and Kate didn't see her lasting past 'Under the Sea.' Kate settled next to her daughter after taking down a book from the shelf, kissing her temple before pulling one of the free blankets out from the pile and wrapping it around her shoulders.

Kate was wrong. It was in the middle of 'Part of Your World' when Al sleepily shifted over, placing her head in Kate's lap with a little sigh. Kate ran a hand over the brown hair, leaving the movie going as she opened the book to the title page.

_To Kate and her little heartbreaker – Keep your sense of magic. Richard Castle._

She ran her fingers over the slightly indented page, feeling the valley from where the pen pressed into the paper. The last few days had definitely brought that magic that he had hoped for her back into her life.

Now to make sure she didn't screw this strange almost-friendship up with her baggage. They had already gotten a step further than usual; most men ran in the opposite direction when they learned about Al. But after walking in on the author comforting her panicky daughter, seeing how much Al obviously liked the man, Kate was already sure she believed in magic more than before.


	16. Chapter 16

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>He doesn't show up at the coffee shop for the next few days. She stops by on her way into the precinct and on her way back to pick up Al from her school. Each time, that table just inside the window with the view of the street is empty or there are strangers sitting there, laughing with one another. But no dark-haired writer with a laptop or a leather-bound notebook.<p>

Kate never brought Al by the shop, not wanting to build up her hopes that the man would be waiting there for her, for them, and not see him.

Of course, that didn't stop Al from asking about Castle every day. "When can we see Rick?" "Has Rick called?" "Can we go get coffee, Mom?" The girl had a dozen variations that all led them to the coffee shop and disappointment.

Kate wondered what she had done to scare Castle off. Had she misread the man and not seen him lacing up his running shoes to go in the opposite direction? She could deal with his absence, but Al was the one she was truly worried about. The girl had attached herself to Castle and Kate was afraid to see what would happen if the man let her down.

Al was over Maria's house for the night, a sleepover on a Friday evening with a bunch of other girls from their class, so Kate was spending a lot of the day in the precinct. She had paperwork to catch up on and frankly, she really didn't want to face her empty apartment. Even when Al wasn't in the apartment because she was over Jim's because Kate was working late, having less than the two of them there always felt wrong. It reminded her of when she was alone, pre-Al, spending her time divided between work, keeping an eye on her dad's alcoholism, and trying to let go of the incident that had driven him into the bottle in the first place.

She's coming back from grabbing the pizza delivery from the lobby when she runs into two bodies. Somehow, she stops the small pizza box and salad balanced on top from toppling over as she trips. The man's arms grab her elbows to steady her on her heels.

"Sorry," she said, shifting the salad box to the middle of the cardboard pizza one. And then she makes another mistake. She looks up at who is still holding her elbows. "Castle? What're you doing here?"

He drops her elbows as if they've suddenly turned white-hot, tucking his hands into his pockets. "Uhh…" Castle turned his eyes toward the wall behind the desk sergeant and Kate could have sworn there was a blush creeping onto his face.

So she looked at the uniform with the clipboard in his hand, scribbling in a form. "What's going on?"

The man didn't look up but kept filling in sections. "Disturbing the peace. Mr. Castle here's a little inebriated."

Now that Kate took a closer look, the officer had a point. The writer's blue eyes were definitely a little heavier than usual but he wasn't swaying or slurring his speech too much. A man that managed to disguise his over-indulgence, but obviously not enough to fool law enforcement. "You booking him?"

"Yeah. He can spend the night in the tank to cool down."

She shook her head, placing a finger on the top of the clipboard and tilting it down. "That's okay. I'll take him." The uniform raised a brow and she just took the clipboard, signing off on a place on the form to say another officer will take custody. "We'll rest it off up on Homicide. Thanks, Officer."

Kate steadied her dinner in one hand, looped the other through Castle's arm, and gave him a nudge toward the elevators. With all of her hands taken, she lifted a knee to hit the elevator button. The car was waiting for them and she gave him a tug into the car.

"Kate, I just-"

"Shush, Castle. Wait until we're at my desk and we can worry about why you were so drunk that you nearly got arrested."

The Homicide floor was empty. It was late and most of the people for this shift were on-call only, not required to come into the precinct. Kate silently thanked whoever had created that silly rule because the world did not need to see this man even this much drunk. She sat him in the visitor's chair, Al's chair, before going into the break room to grab plates and silverware.

She set one of the plates in front of Castle, flipped the cover of the pizza box open after taking her salad off the top, and stabbing the lettuce. "So, what's wrong, Castle?" she asked, using her fork to gesture to the pizza then to his plate. "Eat."

But his hands stayed clasped in his lap, staring across the precinct at the murder board set up for their current case. Kate didn't think he was actually taking in any of the information written up there in three different types of handwriting, but she still used a hand against his jaw to shift his gaze back to her.

"Hey." Kate placed her fork in the empty plastic cover of the salad, focusing fully on the man. "What's going on?"

"She left me." The grief laced in his voice had her scooting her chair closer to him. "Because I wouldn't kick my mother out. So she left."

Kate wanted to reach out, place a hand over one of his, and give it a squeeze of comfort. But she didn't, clasping her hands together and glancing up at him. "Meredith?"

He nodded, slowly, his brows pulling together. "Just like that," he said, trying to snap his fingers but only managing to slide his fingers across each other before staring at the digits like they had failed him.

"When?"

"Last night? This morning? I don't know…" he moaned, his head falling into his hands. "How was I supposed to kick my mother out?"

It's hard, Kate thought, to see your heroes as human beings, feeling emotions and hurting and facing decisions like real people. Like they didn't live on that pedestal you put them on.

"You shouldn't have had to do that in the first place, Mr. Castle." She paused, wondering if the next comments would be crossing some line drawn in the metaphorical sand, but she decided to take the risk. "It was selfish of her to put you in that position."

He didn't speak, just rested his eyes against the heels of his hands, facing the grungy floor of the precinct. So Kate pushed back to her original spot of her desk, picking up the fork, and continuing her dinner until he was ready to talk. She sensed he needed the silence to think before he opened his mouth again.

Kate had finished the salad and was just pulling apart the small pepperoni pizza, strings of cheese still connecting the slices, when his voice broke the quiet.

"Why are you doing this?"

She looked up, peeling a pepperoni off her piece of pizza and popping it into her mouth. "Because I… Because my daughter misses you. She asks every morning, every afternoon after school, even before I put her to bed about going to check the coffee shop for you. And every time I tell her that we'll drive by and then conveniently forget because I know you won't be there since you haven't been there for days, my heart breaks a little. She's worried about you, Mr. Castle, and I hate that I have to lie to my daughter because…" Kate stopped, taking a deep breath and shaking her head. "Because she cares about you and I care about her. Transverse property of equality."

He was staring at her, his mouth hanging open a little at her rant. "Well…"

"Eat. You need the food to balance out that alcohol that had you doing goodness knows what out in public." She took a bite of her slice of pizza.

Castle picked a piece from the box, balancing it with one hand. "Singing," he said a moment before eating some. "Rather poorly, I guess." He nearly grinned when he saw that it was Kate's turn to stare but only shrugged instead. "Didn't inherit my mother's singing voice. She'll be disappointed, I'm sure." He had the slice halfway into his mouth when he shouted, "Wait, what?"

"What?" Kate asked, tearing the crust of her piece in two before biting one of them.

"Al misses me?" He sounds surprised, even to his own ears. "Why would she…?"

"I have no idea, but she does. She likes you." Kate grabbed another slice of pizza and bit it. "Keeps asking why we haven't gone to the coffee shop since last week."

"What happened with that?" he asked, leaning an elbow on the corner of her desk. "With the shooting."

Kate sighed, placing the last bites of the piece in front of her and brushing her hands off over the paper plate. "Talked to Internal Affairs and was cleared after a few hours of answering the same questions over and over again. It was justified; he didn't stop when I announced myself."

"And Al?"

"Calmed down after a day alternating between sleeping and watching movies." Kate didn't mention the fact that she had devoured one of his novels while the girl had slept, wanting to keep the extent of her love for his writing a secret for as long as possible. "I know I said it before, but thank you, for watching her while I took care of things outside."

"It wasn't a problem," he assured her, licking the grease from the pizza off his thumb. "The least I could do in the situation."

Kate got up, folding the paper plate in half and stuffing it into the pizza box, holding the top open for him to do the same with his. She gathered up the trash and started toward the break room, pizza box in one hand, her coffee mug in the other. Castle followed, his steps quieter than the click of her heels.

She poured him coffee in one of the precinct's mugs, handing it over to him before pouring her own. She had to smile when his face screwed up with the first sip. "Lethal. Should have warned you."

"I see why you go to the coffee shop," he said, his voice tight as he fought past the taste of the coffee. "But thank you, for this. Dinner and talking to the officer and just talking." Castle leaned his hip against the counter, watching as Kate sat on the table in the room, her feet swinging below her. "It all helps."

"Glad to return the favor." She sipped the coffee, used to the bitter flavor of the precinct's blend after years of getting her taste buds accommodated to it.

"So, and this might still be the immense amount of alcohol I've had tonight so you'll excuse me, what's the story behind Al?"

Kate knew the question was coming but she still sucked in a breath when it left his mouth. Now was the time, or the minutes after they heard the answer, when everyone turned tail and ran. But he had asked. "It's a bit of a story." When he only shrugged, moving to sit at the table, Kate sighed. "I was having a rough time five years ago or so. One night, it got to be too much and I let it all go. Way too much alcohol at the bar next to my building. Well, one thing, of course, led to another and let's just say that nine months later, there was Al."

"And her father? Not in the picture, but how soon afterwards?" The combination of lots of vodka and his natural curiosity left Castle with no control over his tongue.

Her exhaustion made Kate a little more willing to share. How could she resist his still-sad blue eyes as he looked up at her from the chair, his hands wrapped around the NYPD mug, his hair mussed up a bit. "The morning after." Her smile was a mix of melancholy and nonchalance as she lifted a shoulder. "Don't even know his name. Not that it matters."

"Must have been hard." Castle swirled the mug in the cup of his hands, watching the brown liquid spin into a whirlpool. "Raising her alone."

"I wasn't alone," Kate said, shaking her head. "I had my dad, my best friends, myself. Plenty of shoulders to cry on or hands to hold me up. And I needed them."

They sat for a while, drinking their coffee. Kate stared out into the bullpen, her single lamp providing most of the light in the collection of desks. Solitary. What she could have been had she not made that mistake five years ago.

But Castle was watching her. Her hazel eyes, even in the dim florescent lighting, were pretty, eddies of brown and green and gold. She wasn't exactly frowning, but he figured maybe she was thinking though of who knows what. The mug of coffee was held loosely in her hands, resting on her thigh.

"Her name." He watched her pull out of her thoughts, look over at him, a brow raised. "Any meaning behind it? I mean, Al is sort of a unique girl's name."

There's the smile, he thought as her lips turned up in the corners.

"It's short for Alexandra. She's always been Al to me, though." She took a drink, set the coffee mug on the table before pushing off. "Dad calls her Allie. The only one we haven't liked so far is Alex." Kate refills the mug, determined to get another few hours work in even if it means caffeinating herself to the point where she probably won't sleep tonight.

Castle leads the way, this time, back into the bullpen, Kate at his heels. "Middle name?"

"Why? So you can look her up on Google?" Kate teases, sitting back at her desk. When he only watches her as she clicks the end of her pen. "She doesn't have one. Family tradition."

"Interesting."

She wanted to do some work, have something to show for the night spent in the precinct rather than at home, curled up in bed while missing her daughter. But Richard Castle was sitting next to her, drinking really bad coffee, and hurting a little. So she turned to face him, hooking a foot on the desk so she wouldn't spin in a circle. "What're you going to do about the situation with your mother?"

"Help Mother get over Paul. If Meredith can't support that, then we're done."

Kate smiled softly, nodding. "Seems like a good plan." Then she turned back to her files just as he stood up. "Where're you going?" she asked, looking up at him.

"Home." He said it as if it were the obvious answer.

"No, you're not." That had him stopping in his tracks as he started to take a step toward the elevator. "I just got you out of a charge on your record. I'll drop you at your building once I finish this case file. Sit." She gestured with her pen from his chest to the chair.

He plopped back into the chair, not sure if he was angry at the woman for holding him back or delighted to be spending even a little more time with her. He hadn't worked on Nicole's little tale since his argument with Meredith, not really feeling inspired amidst the angst-filled apartment, but perhaps sitting besides Kate Beckett for a little while longer would get the words flowing again like they were supposed to be.

* * *

><p>Kate finished the paperwork half an hour later, trudging through it while ignoring the man next to her. She threw her pen into the mug on her desk, closed the file before placing it on a few others that needed to go down to Records, and picked her keys up from the base of her photos.<p>

"Come on, Mr. Castle. Let's get you home."

They rode the elevator down to the ground floor and Kate swung her coat on before leaving the precinct, buttoning the large black buttons on the grey coat up on the walk to the garage. Castle was at her side rather than behind her, keeping up now that some of the alcohol had worn off.

When she dropped him off in front of his building without him giving the address, Kate shrugged. "Cop memory."

Castle used the roof of the car to get out, ducking back into the car in a manner that reminded her of the last time they were outside the building. "I feel like this is déjà vu, but thanks, Kate."

"Anytime, Mr. Castle."

"Rick." Kate blinked, her brow furrowing. He only smiled, shrugging one shoulder. "I think we can move to first names here."

Her confusion transferred to subtle amusement, a shy smile on her face. "We'll see, Mr. Castle. We'll see."

Then he was closing the passenger side door and Kate watched to make sure he reached the front door, talking to the doorman, before she drove toward home.


	17. Chapter 17

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>He had locked himself into his study, lights off, music on. The only thing that shed any light was the glow from the laptop screen, illuminating his face. It was the soundtrack from one of the James Bond movies that set the mood for the scenes that were forming in the Word document; he had always needed music to write by.<p>

And Castle had been at this for almost a day. Wake up, grab a cup of coffee and half a bagel, write, skip lunch, take a nap, and write some more. Which was where he was at the moment. The middle of an action scene that was working so damn well with him.

Martha drifted in and out of the apartment and Castle could see that she was slowly, steadily feeling better. Still a little broken, her showtune choices definitely on the melancholy end of the spectrum, but her voice had gained back some of the old strength she had used to sing to him when he was a child. It made him feel better to hear her feel better.

He felt bad about not going to the coffee shop to write over the past week. Kate had definitely made sure the guilt of letting down Al was heavy during that night in the precinct. The night Castle still wasn't entirely sure had actually occurred. The few hours spent, still a little tipsy from his foray into vodka-tasting, in an incredibly uncomfortable visitor's chair eating pizza with a woman that smelled faintly of cherries and vanilla under the spice of the pizza. Her eyes kept tossing him glances that hovered between concerned and merely curious. And he had managed to get personal information out of her, unsure if he contributed the late hour or a relaxation with her daughter around or a desire to simply amuse him.

Whatever the case, he had actually enjoyed the night, minus the whole nearly-arrested thing in the beginning. Could have done without that.

Stretching his interlocked fingers over his head, twisting side to side to loosen the muscles that had tightened up during the last three hours of writing and plotting, Castle got up, saving the document with a quick punch of his fingers over the keys. Habit after losing chapters and hours of work to computer crashes and electrical outages.

Martha was just coming down the stairs as he walked around the couch to the kitchen.

"Don't let me get in your way, kiddo," she said with a small smile, opening the refrigerator and taking out the pitcher of water on one of the shelves.

Castle placed a hand on either of her shoulders, drawing her eyes up to his. "You're not in the way. Ever. I'm happy to have you here until you want to find a place of your own or until my publisher kills me for not having a manuscript done and you inherit the loft yourself."

She laughed, patting his cheek just once before pouring out a glass of water for both of them. "Let's hope it's not the second one," she said, toasting her glass before clinking it against his. "But seriously, Richard. You didn't need to let whatever happened with Meredith happen because of me."

"It wasn't you, Mother." He leaned against the countertop, the glass of water held against his chest. "To be honest, we'd been drawing apart for a while." The actress only raised a brow, speaking in gestures. "She doesn't want kids. Thinks they'd get in the way of her auditions and acting and be trouble. You know how she is." Martha nodded and Castle continued, walking to one of the bar stools at the kitchen counter and sitting, one foot dangling toward the ground while the other braced on the rungs. "But I do."

Martha was just watching, observing as her son's entire being softened a little as he started talking about bringing them to the parks and pushing them on the swings, about fretting on the first day of school, about playing games in the loft and falling asleep with them cuddled in bed with him. Richard would be a fantastic father, a present one to make up for his so obviously absent father-figure.

And even in her own heartbreak of finding a completely empty apartment, with only a note on the counter telling her goodbye, that matched the barren bank accounts, Martha's soul ached for her son. She wanted him to have a couple of children running around the loft, alternating between driving him insane and smothering him with love.

"You know it does usually take two to tango, as the saying goes," she said, leaning on the counter across from him.

He rolled his eyes, grinning. "I'm aware."

Except now, instead of little redheads bouncing on the cushions of the couch, he saw lots and lots of brown hair. He'd be lying to himself if that didn't have to do with Kate Beckett and her daughter. Damn, Castle, he thought with a shake of his head, falling in love with nearly-random women in coffee shops. And their fatherless daughter who missed his presence at the shop.

That still floored him. Al missed him. And if he wanted to be completely honest with himself, he missed her a bit as well. The girl was charming and sweet, outgoing when she wanted to be but silent as a mouse when she had nothing to say. And having her curled up in his lap after the incident last week had pulled at his heart-strings so they sung pretty loud.

So when he had brought up the subject of kids again with Meredith one night over dinner, Castle hadn't exactly been surprised things had gone south quickly. She had argued that she didn't have time to take off from acting to be pregnant and raise a kid. He had insisted that he could stay home with the child; working from home was not anything new to him. She had been angry that she wasn't getting enough of his time at the moment, wondered why the hell she'd want to give him another thing to take away his attention from her. In fact, Castle was certain that it was that statement that had marked the downward turn of the conversation.

The next morning, he woke up and her things were gone.

"So? You have a partner in mind or just going to pick some girl up at a bar?" Martha asked, teasing, reaching a hand out to cover the top of his fingers.

Castle shook his head, grinning. "Let me sign up for e-harmony. I've heard there are some nice girls there."

"Tell me about this new story." Martha was circling the counter, coming to sit on the stool next to Castle. He was looking at her like she didn't know what she was talking about. "Please, Richard. I've seen you plotting like a madman in your office. Give me an outline."

She wouldn't give up; he knew her. So with a sigh that might have been overdramatized for her amusement, he propped his head on his chin and started to rattle off some of the plot, the basic character outline.

"A woman this time around?"

"I've had female characters! Just look at Clara!" he protested, defending his CIA agent.

Martha waved it off. "Yes, yes. But this Nicole will be the main character, the star."

"Nikki." He had come up with her nickname after the night in the precinct. Nicole, like Katherine, was formal. And while he sense that Detective Beckett could do formal with the best of them, But Kate suited her and he figured Nikki would suit his fictional version of her well.

"And does this Nikki have a last name?" Martha asked, giving Castle a light kick with her slippered foot.

"Not yet. But you know my M.O. with titles and names," he reminded her. "I haven't figured it out yet."

She placed a hand over his, giving it a light squeeze. "But you will. You always do." Martha got up, going to put her cup into the sink, turning back to him. "And about the apartment. I can-"

"Stay as long as you want." He followed her over, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "I like having someone else in the place. I'll give you the spare key."

He was halfway across the living room, going back to writing before making a phone call, when his mother's voice carried across the space, an actor's training. "You're a good man, Richard. Does that woman know what she left behind?"

Castle shrugged, turning his head over his shoulder. "Hakuna matata, Mother. Hakuna matata."

Her laughter followed him into the study where he sat, kicking his feet up onto the corner of the desk and pulling the laptop to balance on his thighs. The cursor was blinking at him, the timer in the corner that told him how much longer he needed to write before allowing himself to go on the Internet and surf mindlessly, and his iTunes was paused.

But he instead reached for his phone, turned off to minimize distractions, and waited for the screen lock to come up. Castle swiped his finger over the lock then dug in the top drawer for the plain black notebook. The first page had the drawing and his hand ran over the three child-drawn faces before flipping the page. Tucked into the spine of the book was a Post-It note with a phone number on it.

He typed the numbers into his phone, hitting the green button to dial.

Four rings. A pick-up.

"Hey, it's Rick. Interested in meeting up sometime today?"

* * *

><p>Kate fumbled with the phone, fighting the denim of her jeans to get to it in time to answer. Too many rings to check caller ID. Just answer. "Hello?"<p>

She barely had time to step out of the way of the swing before Al zipped past her. How the hell had he gotten her cell phone number?

"Push, Mom!" shouted Al, already on her descent from the apex of the swing backward.

Cradling the phone against her shoulder, Kate stepped behind Al as she went forward, giving the girl a gentle shove so that the swing when a little higher. Al's squeal of delight pealed out through the park.

He wanted to meet up. Today.

Wait, back to how he got her number. She hadn't given him the number at the precinct and she kept the number unlisted in case convicts got out after serving their sentence and wanted revenge.

"Uhh…"

Intelligent, Kate, she told herself, giving Al another push. Way to win him over with your wit.

Then he's talking, telling her that she doesn't have to if she doesn't want to.

"No. Where?" she asks, watching Al go back and forth, back and forth on the swing, her legs kicking as she tries to get further into the air.

He doesn't say the coffee shop and Kate's a little surprised. Instead, he mentions a bar, The Old Haunt.

"I've got Al. The bar a safe place?" It was still early but the last thing she needed was a fight breaking out and having Al stuck in the middle of it.

A writer's bar. Nothing to be worried about. But if she doesn't want to take the chance…

Kate interrupts him. "It's fine. Give me the address and we'll meet you there in thirty?" She hangs up after he rattles off the address of a place down on the Bowery. "Come on, Al," Kate says, grabbing onto the chains of the swing and slowing the girl's arch to a stop. Before Al can let out a whine, she tugs on the brown braid that Al has become infatuated with. "Going to see Rick."

Suddenly, Al is a whirlwind, spinning around Kate so quickly that she's surprised the dirt at her feet isn't hovering around her calves. "Come *on,* Mom!" she shouts, grabbing Kate's hand and pulling her toward the street to get a cab. "You're so slow."

"Gravity is harder on me because I'm bigger," Kate says dramatically, slowing down just to mess with Al. "It increases a little more every second."

Al glares over her shoulder, staying on the sidewalk as Kate steps off the curb to wave down a cab. "You're silly."

Kate holds the door open for Al to crawl across the seat and plop down. "Probably true." Then she gives the address to the cabbie while buckling Al in.


	18. Chapter 18

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>Kate and Al were a little earlier than the half an hour she told Castle they would be but Kate couldn't have accurately predicted that New York wasn't experiencing any traffic accidents or crazy tourists on the ride from Pier 25 to the Bowery address. With a hand on Al's shoulder to keep the girl close, Kate leaned against one of the poles holding up the awning with the bar's name in an old fashioned coat-of-arms, glancing back at the entrance to the place which appears to be underground. Interesting.<p>

He claimed it was perfectly safe, that he had been there before and knew some of the people who ran the place. Plus, it was still early for the bar-crawlers to be out and causing trouble.

"You ladies waiting to go in?"

A man with a head of thick grey curls smiled at her, his hands in the pockets of his coat. He was a few steps down toward the bar, looking back up at Kate and Al, his back arched against the wind that whipped down the stairs.

"Waiting for a friend," she replied, fingers brushing Al's jacket to make sure she was still there.

"A regular? Maybe I know him."

Before Kate could say they'd just wait, Al gave a little jump on the balls of her feet. "We're gonna see Rick again!"

"Rick Castle?" He looked to Kate for confirmation and she nodded, running her hand over Al's head to try and calm her down. "Come on down, then. You can claim a good booth and wait for him show up."

Al was off following the man even as he continued to talk.

"I'm Eddie," he said, holding the door at the base of the stairs open for them. "I play the piano here most nights. Rick hasn't been around in a while. He's a character, you know. Like something out one of his books."

Kate was hit by the smell, stopped just inside the entrance. Yes, there was the scent of beer and salty pretzels, but there was also something else hovering under the most typical of bar-smells, one Kate couldn't quite put a finger on.

Eddie uncovered the piano in the middle of the room, hitting a few of the keys to make sure the instrument was in tune. Al had slipped onto the bench, her fingers hesitating over the keys before pressing one down. Her giggle was a harmony to the note that rang out in the bar.

"Mom! I played!" she shouted, twisting on the bench to face Kate.

She scooped Al up under the arms, blowing a raspberry on her neck before setting her on her feet again. "You did! Very pretty. Let's get a seat and wait for Rick, okay? Maybe Eddie will play a song for us."

Across from the long bar of dark polished wood were a few booths. Al squirmed out of Kate's hold and ran over to the middle one, climbing onto the seat, pulling her jacket off and handing it to her mother. Kate took the seat across from the girl after hanging up their jackets on one of the hooks, feeling Al's toes kick at her knees as she swung them in excitement.

A waitress came over, asked if they needed anything. The order of just three glasses of water had the young woman blinking but she left to get the drinks with a smile for Al. Eddie started to play something old and bluesy and Kate could hear the tune for 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' under all of the ornamentation. The old man winked at her when she glanced over, giving a nod toward Al who was smiling and bobbing her head along with the music, her eyes closed.

Then he walked in, unbuttoning his coat as he came down the side of the bar. His eyes were scanning the dimly lit booths for them. Kate gave Al a little kick under the table and the girl's eyes popped open, looking around.

"Hi!"

Castle navigated the clusters of chairs and round tables to get to their booth. "Hey," he said, hanging his black coat up next to their caramel and blue ones. "Nice place, huh?"

"Eddie's cool!" Al exclaimed as Castle slid into the booth next to her. "He's playing some songs for us."

"He only plays for the pretty girls, you know," Castle whispered secretively to the girl next to him.

Al's shoes bumped Kate's legs again as she grinned. "Hear that, Mom! He said you're pretty!"

Castle's eyes meet hers across the table and she could feel his feet close to hers in the darkness under it. "Yes, well, maybe he was talking about you, Al." Kate takes a sip of her water, pulling her feet back against the wood of the bench.

"Both of you, actually." His grin was soft as his fingers wrap around his glass, taking a sip as he watched for a reaction. He got two: the seat cushion shook as Al wiggled in delight and Kate's head dipped down, hiding the quick flutter of her lashes as she smiled. "More than just pretty, I think. The better adjective might be beautiful or stunning."

He was pushing for a reason, to see if Kate was still angry at him for letting down Al with the coffee shop. From the feedback he was getting around him, the Beckett women had forgiven him.

"This is new," he said, brushing a hand over Al's braid.

Al puffed up, smiling bright enough to be seen even in the dark of the pub. "It's a princess braid. Only princesses can wear it so you can't." She reaches up and ruffles the bit of his hair she can touch above his ear. "Too short."

"That's right. Way too short." He runs a hand over his head. "You think I should grow it out so I can have a princess braid?" Her wrinkled nose is answer enough so Castle turns to Kate, who had been watching the two interact. "What do you think, Kate? Yes or no?"

"I'm with Al on this one. Keep it short, Mr. Castle." When he narrowed his eyes at her, Kate shrugged. Not quite ready to switch to first names yet, no matter how much he wants her to. And that look he's shooting her is definitely telling her that he wants that switch to happen right now.

So Kate deflected, folding her hands on the tabletop and looking across the table at Castle mostly, but Al's in the corner of her eyesight, playing with the salt and pepper shakers like they were people. "Why'd you want to talk?"

He shifted and Kate could read the nerves radiating from his being. "Actually, and don't take this the wrong way," he insisted, holding his left hand up defensively, "but I started writing." She arched a brow as if saying 'duh' but he charged on, not wanting to lose momentum or courage. "New series since I ki…"

Oh. Well that detail wasn't out to the public yet and Gina would murder him if he leaked it. But he couldn't very well share the fact that the only reason he was starting a new series was because Derrick wouldn't be surviving his latest adventure with Clara and the CIA. Kate was watching him, wondering where the hell he was going with this whole deal, and in that moment, Castle decided he trusted her to keep the secret.

"I killed off Derrick Storm. And it's partially-"

"You killed off Derrick?" she said, shocked and sad at the same time. Even her voice, a quiet murmur, had him stopping. "But… Why?"

A reaction he hadn't been expecting. He sat, watched her face go through a range of emotions, her fingers twisting her watch around her wrist, blinking rapidly, nibbling her lower lip, her brows pulled together. In the back of his mind, Castle had to think that she didn't need an explanation of who the fictional PI was; Kate Beckett had read his books.

"Mom?" Al asked, abandoning the shakers and taking her mother's hands in her little ones. "Okay?"

She smiled, a little forced but there for Al's sake. "Yeah, kid. I'm good." Then she turned back to Castle, nodding. "So you killed Derrick. And now?" Kate kept her fingers on one of Al's hands, letting her grab the pepper shaker to play with again.

"I started writing a new short story. Female main character." Castle keeps his eyes on hers, watching for realization and wondering how many hints she'll need. "Fondness for coffee. Striking good looks." Kate's brows are still drawn together but he can see her getting his drift. "A detective."

Kate shook her head, slow and steady. "You're joking, right?" she says firmly, looking up at him, her fingers tightening on Al's. "This is a joke."

And now to talk his way out of this and still get her blessing. "Only if you want it to be a joke, but I've become rather fond of her in the past few days. But I won't continue if you don't want me to."

"What's wrong?" Al asked, pulling her hand out of Kate's grasp to reclaim the salt shaker, clinking the two glass bottles together, hearing the snap of the metal caps.

"Nothing, Al." Kate let her head fall into her palm, rubbing her forehead and allowing her short nails to scrape over her skin, taking a deep breath, clearing her lungs. "So I'm what? Your muse?"

Castle hesitated, trying to read her tone to find out if she was angry or something else. Blank read. Obviously those years of running interrogations with poker faces had paid off for Kate. "Again, only if you'll let me write it like that. I don't want to do this if you want to keep your life private."

She wasn't sure if she wanted to grab Al and run or just sit and stare. Another part wanted to call her father and ask his advice but Kate had a suspicion of what that advice would be. Do it.

"What would this require? This muse thing." See what he had planned first. Then she would make a decision because, through all of this, there was Al to consider. Kate didn't want her five year old thrust into the spotlight because her mother was spending time with Richard Castle.

"I want to shadow you for a while. I like to get details right, most writers do," he said. His voice was calmer, less frenzied, now that she was a little more relaxed. "I can talk to your captain or whoever about liabilities and such. Only for a few cases to get a feel for it."

"That's it?"

"That's it," he responded with a nod. "Nothing big or flashy."

Kate's gaze was drawn away from his earnest blue eyes to Al, still acting out a play with the spices on the table, pulling a smile onto Kate's face. "What about Al? Is she in the story?"

"No. I didn't want to write her in and have you not want that for her." Al looked up at Castle, her head tilted to the side.

"Want what for me?" she asked, eyes darting between the man and the woman, the shaker play pausing.

Kate patted Al's wrist, shaking her head. "Nothing, kid. Just talking about something. It'll be a few more minutes, then we'll head back home for dinner."

"Have dinner here." Castle's words had Kate looking back at him. He shrugged. "It's a nice place. I spent a lot of time here while writing my second book and the food's good."

"Yes! Let's eat here!" Al exclaimed, knocking over the pepper shaker. "Oops."

Castle swipes the grains of pepper into his hand, brushing them under the table. "Careful with Mrs. Pepper there, Al."

One corner of Kate's mouth is turned up in a smile as she watched Castle take the salt from Al, joining in the play, head bent to hear the back stories for the two spice containers that she has created.

He thought of Al. Even as he started writing about her, using as much of her life as he had gathered, he kept her daughter out of it. Because he cared and didn't want the girl in the spotlight if Kate didn't want her there. Hell, he had even given her a choice about putting herself into the character he'd come up with. It was all so unlike the persona he put on for the press. He was a regular guy behind the over-the-top playboy.

So Kate crossed her legs, the toe of her sneaker brushing his pant leg. He looked up, brows raised.

"Okay, Rick."

And Kate knew that she was answering both of his questions.


	19. Chapter 19

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>The cab ride back to their apartment had been too long for Kate's liking.<p>

Al had been overjoyed from the few hours spent in Castle's presence, playing out scenarios with the salt and pepper shakers throughout dinner, making Kate join in with the little ceramic dish of sugars as a family pet. Kate was sill surprised that the girl had managed to eat bites of her macaroni and cheese between acts. During those breaks, Kate caught Castle watching her over the table. They had dropped the subject of the books for the remainder of the night but Kate suspected he had more to talk to her about. What it was, she had no idea.

Kate had snuck the bill from Castle's hand, slipping her card into the plastic slot, and handing it back to the waitress before he had a chance to protest. "My turn," she had said, cutting off any attempts to somehow pay her back.

She had practically needed to drag Al away from the man, the girl holding onto his hand on the walk back up the stairs to the street level.

"Promise you'll see us again?" Al asked, completely focused on his face as if she could force a response from the sheer pressure of her look.

It had worked as he promised to talk to them soon. Then he had passed Kate a napkin from the bar, his phone number scribbled on it with a pen.

"I got yours off your desk." She had raised her brows, trying to figure out where on her desk she had her number listed. Just as she reached the conclusion, he spoke. "The emergency contact list you had taped to the corner. I hope you don't mind."

She did mind a little. People, especially strangers who were also celebrities that she had only met twice before, snooping on her desk was a peeve of hers. "I could have found yours, you know," she had said, slipping the napkin into her pocket.

He shrugged. "Just saving you some time, Detective."

Then he had hailed them a cab, said goodbye to Al as she jumped into the back seat, and told Kate that he'd drop by the precinct Monday afternoon to talk to whoever would need to clear him in.

But now, after the ride back home, Kate was thinking and that was dangerous. As she got Al ready for bed after a quick bath, her mind was anywhere but on reading another chapter of _Charlotte's Web_ to the girl cuddled up under her blankets. Even her goodnight to Al was short, a quick brush of her lips over her daughter's cheek before flipping the lights off and cracking the door open.

Kate changed into her pajamas, held down the speed dial on her phone, and waited to hear his voice.

"Katie. It's late."

A glance at the clock told her that, yeah, it was pretty late. "I can call back tomorrow after I get Al off to school."

He laughed and Kate could practically see him shaking his head. "No, no. What's up? Relaxing Sunday?"

"Richard Castle is basing books on me." It came out in a rush and Kate couldn't stop the smile from creeping back onto her face.

"I thought he had that private investigator that you and your mother had a crush on."

"Dad…" Kate warned. But it was true. Johanna had started reading the Derrick Storm books long before Kate. But then Kate had picked up the first book in the series and read it when her mother wasn't looking. It wasn't until she let a reference slip and Johanna caught it that the theory sessions had happened between the two, much to Jim's amusement. "This is serious."

As Kate pulled her legs up to her chest, resting her back against the headboard of the bed, Jim said, "But how would he even know about you, Katie? It's not like you're plastered on the front cover of the Times."

Had she really not told her father about the multiple run-ins with the writer? Well this was going to be interesting…

"I might have met him. A few times," Kate said, her eyes on the chipped red polish on her toenails. Time to redo the polish with Al some night soon. "In a coffee shop that I go to on the way to get Al from school sometimes."

"And?"

Once a lawyer, always a lawyer, Kate thought to herself as she smiled and rolled her eyes. "We talked." Silence. Another tactic of his to keep her talking, one that she used in interrogations often. It always worked when it was her dad using it. "Three times."

"And in those three times, you managed to charm him enough to get him to base a book character off you? Let me guess, love interest for Derrick? That would have tickled your mother to no end."

Kate had to agree. Her mother would have laughed and teased and then gone to work and bragged to her co-workers at the law firm about how her daughter was inspiring Richard Castle. Kate would have been embarrassed if Castle managed to slip one of his infamously steamy sex scenes into the book. "No, Dad. New book."

"So you met him, managed to not faint in his presence, and got him to like you to the point where he's writing an entire book based on you? I'm impressed, Katie."

If he were sitting next to her, Kate was sure she would have shoved him. "Yes," she hissed, rolling her eyes again. "If you're going to tease me, I'm hanging up."

"Serious girl. You always were," Jim mused on the other end of the line. "It's exciting, right?"

Kate shrugged, pushing her toes under the sheets. "Right now. Dad, he wants to come shadow me at work. What if he screws something up and cases get tossed out of court?"

"You won't know until it happens. Give him a chance. You can always kick his ass later because we both know you can."

"True. Talk to you tomorrow, Dad."

If I survive tomorrow, she thought as she plugged her phone into the charger and pulled the blankets up over her head. Maybe the boys will haze the writer into leaving. That would be good.

* * *

><p>Al wished her good luck as Kate dropped the girl off at school. She did it with a little wave before skipping over to join Maria inside the doors.<p>

And that just had Kate doubting herself and this deal all over again. It was one thing for Castle to follow her in theory and another to put it into action. It was dangerous. Really dangerous. Kate wasn't sure if the writer understood the type of people Kate came in contact with daily. Murderers, drug addicts going through violent withdrawals, convicts who didn't care what they did since they were away for life, hostile witnesses. They didn't care if they were facing a cop who had a daughter waiting for her at home or a New York Times Bestseller worth millions.

Kate hoped that Captain Montgomery had the ability to talk sense into Castle that Kate seemed to lack. She sensed most of that ability was lost due to the way his eyes focused on her when they were in the same general area.

She parked in the garage, swung her bag over her shoulder, and headed toward the precinct door. Al's eyes, she thought, breezing past Peters without giving his current novel a glance. Eerily similar to Al's eyes. Kate shook her head as she sat at her desk, giving the banged-up metal a little kick. Not possible. Was it?

"Heard you made a friend."

Ryan had appeared at her side, a cup of coffee in one hand, a file in the other. He was grinning and Kate secretly wanted to slap it off his face.

"Of course I did, Ryan," she said, tossing her keys onto the desk and crossing her legs. She typed in her password for the computer and waited while the screen loaded. "I'm a charming person. I make lots of friends. Why? Need to borrow one?"

"What? No." She smiled when he sounded affronted. "I meant, a friend of considerable wealth."

Kate turned her eyes to look up at the other detective, a brow arched. "I have those too. Looking for an heiress?"

"Richard Castle."

Everyone knew? Well shit. Kate just shrugged. "Yeah. Met him in a coffee shop a week ago. No big deal."

"Heard he's going to be making an appearance in our lowly precinct," Ryan said, intelligently moving away from her desk toward his own. "Which would also explain why you look like you decided to wear such a fetching outfit today, Beckett."

"Ryan, remember who decides which detective does the paperwork in cases," Kate warned, flipping open a folder in the steadily-dwindling pile of unfinished paperwork on her desk. "I can keep you buried in files for years."

That shut him up.

Esposito came in a few minutes later from the break room, a doughnut balanced on top of his coffee mug. "Mystery royalty in the precinct today, Beckett. You ready?" The end trailed off as Ryan made frantic cutting motions across his neck.

But it was too late. Kate was up, a pile of folders in her hand. She dropped half of them on Ryan's desk, the other half on Esposito's. "That'll keep you busy until the writer shows up."

"Beckett!" Montgomery was in the doorway of his office, gesturing for her to talk. He waited until she shut the door before sitting behind his desk, hands clasped on the cleared blotter. "Got a call yesterday afternoon from Richard Castle's agent about shadowing you for a few weeks. For research."

Kate sat in the visitor's chair thinking through her response. "Yes. He mentioned someone would be calling to talk about it." Montgomery only raised a brow. Kate sighed. "We met in a coffee shop. He was there when Al was approached by the man I shot. He wants to get details right so yesterday, he asked if he could try and follow me for some of my cases."

"And are you okay with this arrangement?"

The question of the hour.

"Sir, I think it's-"

"And here's Captain Montgomery," Esposito said, interrupting her sentence. "And Detective Beckett. What great timing, Mr. Castle."

Both Kate and Montgomery stood up as Esposito opened the office door and waved an arm in. She stepped back, letting Castle take her previously occupied chair after shaking Montgomery's hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Captain," Castle said, giving Kate a glance out of the corner of his eye. "I assume Paula called you sometime yesterday?"

"She did. I was just talking to Detective Beckett about your proposed arrangement." That earned her another look from the writer. "It's okay with me if you shadow her but you'd have to follow her orders. She's in charge."

"Women always are, aren't they, sir?" Castle asked. Winning over everyone so that Kate had no out in this situation. "No offense, Detective," he added, smiling at her.

Kate smiled back, half listening as they talked about forms for the lawyers to sign about liabilities involved and his safety while following Kate. She was looking out at the precinct where Ryan and Esposito had their heads together suspiciously and she figured they were starting a pool of some kind. Days until she shot Castle in the leg was weighing heavily against days until he stole a kiss in the break room and at the moment, Kate wasn't sure which one she preferred.

"Beckett!" The shout belonged to Esposito as he waved a piece of paper in the air. "You'll excuse me, boys," she said, slipping out of Montgomery's office to go see what her co-worker had for her.

Ryan was pulling his coat on as Esposito filled her in on a case out near Times Square. The three of them had just reached the elevator, Kate pressing the down button, when "Wait!" is called over the bullpen. Castle jogged over, grinning like a kid as he reached the trio.

"I'm coming with you."

Kate, Ryan, and Esposito exchanged looks of disbelief before Kate stepped up and spoke. "You have paperwork to fill out before you can be out in the field."

"Montgomery said I could go. Just a crime scene so it's not like the perp will be there."

The elevator isn't crowded with four people but Kate feels claustrophobic as Castle's shoulder brushes hers. "Remember what he also said," she said, pushing her hands into the pockets of her leather jacket.

Castle shrugged. "Something about listening to your orders." Then he raised his hand in a cheeky salute. "Yes, ma'am, Kate."

She ignored the other two detectives and stepped a little closer to Castle. "It's Detective Beckett when I'm not with Al. Got it?"

"Got it."

But that smile told her that he might be planning on dropping her first name a few more times during the course of the day. The man was a joy when he interacted with Al, a charmer during the times they had met, but Kate had a feeling he could quickly start to grind on her gears if he really put his mind to it. She took a deep breath and stepped out of the elevator before the three men.

"You riding with me or with Ryan and Esposito?" she asked over her shoulder.

"You. Duh."

Kate paused at Peters' desk this time, tilting his book up with a finger. The second book in the Patterson series. "Slow going this time, Peters. Not catching your interest?"

The man was speechless, his eyes darting from Kate to over her shoulder where Castle was looking at one of the memorial walls for fallen officers. "That's… That's Richard Castle."

"Yeah. He's going to be following me. Go ahead, Peters. Freak out," Kate said, moving away from the desk to gather her shadow. "Come on, Castle. Off to live the glamorous life of a cop."

"Doughnuts and bad coffee?" he asked as they walked down the sidewalk toward the garage. Esposito was pulling out of the entrance and gave her a wave as they started toward Times Square.

Kate looked at Castle from over the hood of the car. "A victim, Castle. Someone is dead. Respect."

"Of course." He slid into the passenger seat and Kate watched his nose wrinkle from the smell. She kept the car clean but years of cops tossing coffee cups and take-out containers into the back seat seeped into the fabric of the seats. "God, this is gross."

"Step one of living the life, Castle. Quit complaining."

He was still trying to stop the twitching of his nose when she pulled out onto the street to follow after her co-workers. The image in her peripheral was amusing and she had a hard time holding the laugh back from bubbling out.


	20. Chapter 20

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>He complained the entire ride from the precinct down to the tourist trap of Times Square. In addition to taxi cabs and the general crazy driving of native New Yorkers, Kate found herself dodging families from small towns getting a taste of the big city. They crossed against signals, ran out into the streets, and did not make the day any easier on the detective.<p>

Castle sensed her frustration since her hands kept tightening on the steering wheel. Rather than add to the rising tension, he hoped he could defuse some of it. "Al off at school?"

"Yeah." Her voice was tight as she hit the brakes before the nose of the car bumped into a middle-aged man holding a map in front of his face instead of looking where he was walking. The man glanced up when he heard the squeal, gave them a wave, and continued across the street. "She liked spending time with you the other day."

"She did?" Castle was surprised at the genuine shock in his response. He knew the girl liked him but the fact that she was so vocal about it was a nice bit of information.

"It may surprise you to know, Castle, that those women that line up at your book signings aren't the only ones you manage to charm," she said, stuck behind a line of cabs and sedans in the heart of Times Square. Neon lights flashed around them even in the daylight, advertising for plays and comedy clubs and bus tours. Kate didn't add that she, along with Al, had been in one of those lines at a point in her life. "Al sees you as a friend and that's rare with her."

When he didn't answer, Kate turned her head to look at him. He was staring, his mouth opening and closing as if the right words were not coming to him. "She's a bit of a loner. Takes after me that way, I guess. Maria is the only friend I ever hear her consistently talk about. Until you, Castle. She always talks about you and she hasn't even spent that much time with you. You made an impression."

"Hmm."

"What?"

He shrugged, shaking his head a little. "I just figured she'd be one of those popular girls, surrounded by doting fans all looking for some of her time."

"No," Kate said and he could hear a tinge of sadness coloring her tone. "She has a hard time with crowds. She's shy so she tends to stay to the outskirts of a room rather than join in." Kate turned onto a side street, hoping that her knowledge of the city would speed up the ride to the scene; things were bordering on personal here and she was trying to keep a line drawn in the sand. Only problem being that sand can be disturbed, moving or erasing that line completely. "The only group I've ever seen her really interact with are the people she's grown up around and they hardly count because she's known them for her entire life. In all seriousness, Castle, you are the first stranger she's considered a friend."

"I'm glad to have her then," he replied as they zipped through a yellow light onto the correct street.

Kate switched her hazard lights on as she nosed into the gathering of cruisers, Esposito's car, and the black medical examiner's van. She left the keys in the visor of the car, checked her deep pocket for her badge, and grabbed her notebook from the backseat.

"Listen, Castle," she started, walking backwards in front of him as she spoke. "This is a real crime scene. Real victim. Real family members. It's not like one of your books." When he only raised a brow, she tilted her head forward. "Just think before you speak."

It's two flights of stairs up to the apartment where most of the action is centered. Uniforms and crime scene technicians are working to gather evidence in the apartment as Kate gives her name and badge number at the door, indicating that Castle's with her.

"Who do we have?" she asked, clicking her pen on as she stepped around a broken vase that looks like it fell from the coffee table. The coffee table missing a leg and wobbling with every brush past it.

Esposito nodded toward the bedroom, leading the two into the room. "Marianne Kowal. It's her place. Married but going through a divorce. One kid. A son, Joseph." He paused in the doorway but Kate continued into the room, circling around the bed pushed against one wall. "He came by to visit after dropping his kids off at school and walked into this."

'This' turned out to be a woman. She was sprawled out on the neatly made bed, her strawberry blonde hair that was showing signs of going grey at the roots looks like it had been in a bun that was as meticulously done up as the bed. Now it was in disarray, the hair elastic still clinging desperately to some strands. The rest was loose, sitting in a drying pool of blood that had formed under Marianne Kowal's neck.

"Was she having any trouble in life?" Kate asked, standing at the foot of the bed and looking at Marianne's face, trying to ignore the gaping hole in the woman's throat from what had to be a gunshot.

Ryan joined his partner at the door. "Joseph says that her soon-to-be ex-husband was giving her some grief. Threatening phone calls, strange notes left at the door. There were a few calls to her work line at Geller and Hartford, the law firm she worked at as a secretary."

"Well she really lost her head over it…"

Three pairs of eyes swiveled to train on Castle instantly. None of them were amused at his joke. In fact, he was fairly certain that any of the detectives would have hesitated less than a second if they could get away with seriously maiming him at this moment. He felt the urge to back out of the room slowly so as not to startle any of them into action.

Instead, he spoke quietly. "A joke. Just a joke." Their expressions didn't change. "Just trying to… lighten the situation." It came out as a question, inflection at the end of his statement, instead of the fact that it was. He was trying to brighten the room, take their minds off the woman who was shot to death in her own bedroom.

"Ryan, Esposito." The two shift their gaze from the writer to Kate. "I'm going to talk to Lanie. You watch Writer Boy here. Make sure he doesn't wise-crack when the victim's son is in hearing vicinity."

Kate brushed past her shadow, leaving him with a glare as she headed toward a petite woman with skin that looked like coffee with cream in it. He wanted to follow, see who this woman was, but the other detectives were blocking the doorway now.

He hadn't really had a chance to get to know Kate's team members. The tall, Hispanic one had shown him from the elevator to Montgomery's office, but they hadn't talked much in that time. The other looked kinder, blonde hair and blue eyes that laughed even when his face didn't. Castle figured Ryan was his best option to smooth things over.

"So," he started, sticking his hands in his pockets and shifting from one foot to the other. They were staring at him as if he might try to run past them. "What do we do from here?"

Castle had been correct; it was Ryan who shrugged. "Talk to the victim's family, friends, neighbors, and co-workers. See if this husband was troubling her outside of her private life."

"Lots of interviews," added Esposito. "Boring, police stuff. Hey!" he said, turning to his partner, suddenly joyful. "Maybe we can get Beckett to bring him to the autopsy. That would be good research, right, Castle?"

"They never get that detail right," Ryan mused, nodding slowly. "Let her chat with Lanie then we can give her our proposal. That is, if you're in, Castle…"

"Sure! Yeah!"

The boys shifted, letting a tech enter the room to take fingerprints from the area around the bed. Castle, while he felt he had gained two allies, still felt a little trapped in the bedroom by the two. He could see over Ryan's shoulder that Kate was deep in conversation with the other woman, complete with hand motions. Unfortunately they were both facing away from him and he couldn't read their lips, a talent he had picked up in the New York Public Library as a child. But he wanted to know what was going on with them.

"Any questions we can answer while Beckett sees what Lanie has for us?" asked Esposito, leaning a shoulder against the doorframe casually, a smile across his face.

* * *

><p>Kate was glad for the excuse to get out of the room. Castle was a good guy when he was with Al, that much was clear. They got along, had a good time, and Al always left the encounters a little happier than before. But Kate had no idea what the man would be like out in the field and she wasn't too impressed with his first steps.<p>

Lanie had her hip propped on the dining room table of the apartment, a clipboard in her hands as she filled out forms after her on-scene examination of the body. She wasn't really even looking at the questions in the columns having memorized the order years ago.

"What's up, girl?" she asked, sensing when Kate rounded the table and boosted herself up onto the table next to her.

"Just need a minute," Kate said, tucking her hair behind her ear and swinging her feet a little under the wood table.

Lanie set the clipboard down against her thigh as she looked over at her friend. "A minute from the scene or…?"

"Richard Castle."

"Sweetie, you're at work. He's not here." Kate's raised brows accompany a tight smile. "Katherine Beckett, you cannot tell me that he's here!"

Suddenly, Lanie's on her feet, her head turning to look toward the bedroom. Kate grabs a handful of Lanie's loose brown hair and makes sure she can't turn more than a few inches.

"Lanie, no!" Kate hissed to her friend, not loud enough for the boys to hear. "Don't gawk or he'll know we're talking about him."

"He *is* here!" Lanie wrapped her hand around Kate's, prying her fingers off her hair. "What the heck is he doing at the crime scene? Doesn't he just sit at a desk and type away all day?"

Kate sighed, carding a hand through her hair and giving the end a sharp tug, trying to focus herself. "He's following me for a few weeks. For research."

"And you said yes to this?"

Her glance tells Lanie to shush or the story won't be told. "A few days after we met in the coffee shop, he asked to meet at a bar. Told me that he wanted to use me as inspiration for a new character. He asked my permission to shadow me on cases for a while to get a feel for things before setting everything on paper."

"Of course, Kate the dedicated Castle-ite said 'sign me up!', right?"

Kate shoved Lanie's arm enough to have the other woman teetering on the edge of the table, catching herself with her toes before falling. "I said he'd have to talk to Montgomery and see what he said." Silence from Lanie's side of the table. Kate continued. "And Montgomery said he could follow me if he listened to what I said."

"Obviously he hasn't listened to you too well," Lanie said, picking up the clipboard and pen and started in on the second page of the report. "You look like he pulled a little too hard on your braid."

"He made a joke about the victim losing her head," Kate said under her breath, aware of Joseph Kowal sitting on the couch a few feet away from them. "I mean, who does that, Lanie?"

The other woman was doing a poor job of disguising her amusement at the one-liner. But when Kate turned on her, Lanie schooled her expression into disgust. "Seriously. A little respect for the deceased in her own home at least."

Kate pushed off the table, crossing her arms and rolling her eyes. "You're amused by him. Figures."

"Oh, come on, Kate!" Lanie said, crossing off a question with a little more force that strictly necessary. "It was a little funny."

"You're a medical examiner. You spend all day coming up with gallows humor to keep yourself sane in autopsy. Of course you'd enjoy that joke." Kate tucked her notebook under her arm, starting back toward the bedroom. "Text me when you're done with the prelim exam so we can get started."

"Bring your shadow."

Just before she crossed into the bedroom, Kate turned, facing Lanie. "Why? So you can swoon?"

"Kate, I'm a medical examiner. A man will not make me swoon, no matter how famous, rich, or handsome. I know how to stand on my own two feet."

"'Course you do, Doctor Parish. Of course you do."

When she pivoted, Kate found herself chest-to-chest with Castle. She took a surprised step backward just as he did. Only, unlike him, she didn't run into Esposito or Ryan.

"Boys, you take the son. He already talked to you; he knows you. Castle and I will head over to Ms. Kowal's job, see if her co-workers have anything to say about her."

He waited until they were back out on the street to talk.

"Listen, Kat- Beckett," he caught himself before she could shoot him a warning. "I'm sorry about back there. I didn't mean any disrespect."

She tossed the leather notebook onto the console, her hand on the roof of the car, looking at him steadily over the top. He could tell she was judging his sincerity with those sharp hazel eyes. It was only when she nodded, just once, before sliding into the driver's seat that he knew he had passed.

"Just don't do it again." Kate turned the key, started back out into the street. "You'll hear us cracking jokes in front of the murder board. It's different there. But don't ever pull a stunt like that while standing over a victim."

"Got it."

And she knew he did. So she flipped the notebook open with one hand, the other still firmly on the steering wheel. "Want to read off the address of her workplace?"

* * *

><p>Nothing.<p>

The law firm didn't record calls, so none of the threatening ones that Marianne's son claimed she received while at work were saved. Kate had leafed through Marianne's desk but that had come up blank for notes from her husband.

She was more than a little dejected as she started not toward the precinct, but toward Al's school. It was late in the day and she didn't have time to get Al if she stopped at the Twelfth first. They could talk to the boys about what they gathered from the son tomorrow; the information would get them no where this late in the afternoon.

"I'll drop you at your place after I pick Al up. That work for you?" she asked, jerking the wheel to avoid a taxi as it pulled into traffic without checking its rear view mirror.

He shrugged. "Yeah. But only if you'll stay for dinner." He grabbed the wheel as she started to drift into the neighboring lane, too busy staring at him. "It'll just be me and Mother. We could use the company and I'm sure Mother wants to meet Al. I may have spoken of her," he clarified when Kate narrowed her eyes. "Not a big deal, Kate. Just dinner and conversation."

Castle watched the debate play out across her face. Then she sighed. "That'd be nice. Thanks."

He savored her shy smile the entire ride to the school. He'd seen it before, in the coffee shop, but she hadn't let it show while at work. She was good, all compartmentalized and restrained, while bringing justice for families and friends. And then he had the joy of watching that switch flip when she got out of the car to go meet Al at their spot, smiling openly at a woman with dark blonde hair in a messy ponytail and giving the girl who Al had been chattering with a wave before guiding her daughter toward the car.

"Rick!" Al squealed, running the last few feet to the car, tumbling into the backseat when Kate opened the door. She kicked aside Kate's patrol belt, holding an old-fashioned baton, handcuffs, and some pepper spray next to a gun hostler, throwing her backpack onto the ground. "Mom, it's Rick!"

Kate winked back at her daughter, saying, "I'm aware. We're going over to his house to eat dinner tonight, kid."

"Really?" Al looked between the adults, waiting for one of them to confirm or deny the statement.

Kate shot Castle a glance that clearly said, 'told you so,' before nodding. "Yes, really. Have you known me to lie, Alexandra?"

That had the girl pouting a little but Castle's smile back at her halted the nearly-crossed arms. "No, Mom."

Kate let Al and Castle talk the entire ride to the apartment building in SoHo, parking against the curb halfway down the block. When they reached the door of the building, the same man from the night Kate had dropped him off opened the glass door.

"Mr. Castle, you have friends tonight," he said with a welcoming smile to the women. "Good evening, ladies."

"Eduardo, this is Kate and Al Beckett. You two, Eduardo, one of the finest men in the city," Castle said. "He keeps an eye on me."

"I'm sure he does," Kate said, shaking the other man's hand. "It's nice to meet you."

Castle was hitting the elevator button as Al waved to Eduardo. "Hi, Ed… Edera…" she said slowly, trying to get her tongue to work around the Spanish name.

"Just call me, Ed, little one," the man said, leaning down. "Here. A penny for good luck." And with a flick of his wrist, Eduardo pulled a penny from Al's ear, holding it out for the girl.

And just like that, Al's eyes lit up brighter than before. She kept looking from Eduardo's face to the little coin in his hand, then over to the other adults near the elevator, and back. "Mom!"

"Take the coin, Al. For luck," Kate said, giving Castle a little elbow. He was smiling as widely as Al.

"Thank you, Ed!" Al said, skipping over to them just as the elevator doors opened. The penny was clutched in her hand, tucked against her chest as she got into the car. "Mom, Rick! I got a penny for luck."

The elevator let out a ding as it reached the second floor and Kate gave Al a little bump to get her off the elevator. "You certainly did, Allie-bug. Keep a hold of it."

Castle's whisper was only audible to Kate. "Because we'll need it with my mother. She's feeling better and let's just say that she's back to her old self."

He didn't give any hints as to what that meant, but from the sound of the piano being played loudly enough to be audible without the door open, Kate sensed that it meant the Broadway diva was back to singing and dancing to her heart's content.

"Hey, Al. You ready to meet my mom?" he asked, unlocking the door to the loft.

The girl nodded, still flying on cloud nine with the oxidized coin in her fist.

"Then here goes," Castle muttered, opening the door and waving a hand in. "Welcome, Beckett ladies, to my home."


	21. Chapter 21

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>The song that was being played on the piano hit them at full force. It's bold and loud and Castle identifies it quickly as 'A Boy Like That' as his mother sings along, complete with a faint Spanish accent. Al hung back, half hiding behind Kate's legs as Martha belts out Anita's part, playing Maria's countermelody beneath it.<p>

Castle had to admit that his mother might be a little overwhelming, especially after Kate's talk in the car ride to the crime scene about her daughter's timidness around strangers. He hadn't thought of that angle when he had invited them to dinner. So he left them inside the doorway, going to tap Martha on the shoulder.

"One of your own kind, stick to your own- Hey, kiddo!" she said, her fingers not faltering on the keys as she continued to play the song. "Have a good first day of school?" she teased.

"Actually, I did. And I brought home some friends." He waved over to Kate and Al, giving the girl a smile that told her to trust him. "Mother, this is Detective Kate Beckett and her daughter Al. My mother, Martha Rodgers."

Kate held a hand out to shake the older woman's hand but found herself wrapped up in a hug instead, one that crushed her ribs together. Castle was laughing over her shoulder as she gasped for air before Martha released her. The hug she gave Al was less intense and Al giggled through it.

"Mom, her hair tickled," Al said, her nose wrinkling as she tucked herself back against Kate's leg, her right arm looping around her knee loosely. Not hiding, but definitely holding onto someone safe in the room.

Martha picked up the wine glass that had been on the piano, taking a sip of the red liquid in the bowl of the glass. "I have that effect on a lot of people. Are we doing dinner with these lovely young ladies, Richard?"

"We are." He smiled toward Kate and Al, an apology and a heartfelt expression all at once. "Do you have preferences, Becketts? I think we have pasta, maybe some hamburger that could become American chop suey, or there's always grilled cheese and chicken noodle soup."

All eyes seemed to train on Al's half-hidden face. But her eyes were on Castle's, looking for a hint.

Kate ran a hand over Al's head, "How about grilled cheese, kid? Maybe Rick will let you help in the kitchen." Kate looked over at Castle for confirmation on the proposition.

"Definitely. It's a team effort." He held out a hand for Al to take. "Come on, Al. We'll start getting the griddle hot."

The girl grabbed hold of Castle's hand as they went over to the kitchen to gather the ingredients and plug in the countertop griddle Castle pulled down from a cupboard. Kate watched from the living room as Castle boosted Al up onto the counter so he could settle bread and a stick of butter and a block of cheddar cheese from the fridge around the girl.

"He's always wanted kids, Detective."

Martha's voice surprised Kate as she observed the scene in the kitchen. The older woman was at her elbow, looking in the same direction. "Really?"

"Oh yes. He's an only child. I think he always wanted someone else to share his sense of wonder with." The woman nodded toward the couch and the two of them sat. Martha kicked her feet up onto the coffee table, nudging aside books that Castle's publisher had sent for him to endorse to make a place for her heels. "I've always been sorry I couldn't give him someone to have playdates with as a child." Kate thought she did a good job of hiding her curiosity but the actress had been trained to study facial expressions; she caught on. Martha only smiled. "He grew up without a father. I was on the road a lot with my theatre productions and there weren't a lot of kids backstage. He made do with spare props and his imagination. While I'd like to claim that led to his ability to tell a stellar story, I know he was lonely."

Kate glanced over to the counter where Castle was helping Al butter one side of a slice of bread, his hands guiding the girl's over the surface but still letting her think she was doing the hard work by herself. "His father is…"

Martha smiled and Kate could see the hint of sadness hidden there. "A mystery. A faint memory of a single night so many years ago."

Kate felt her heart stutter and struggled to school her features to a smile, to nod at the woman. When she looked at Martha, Kate knew she was fooling no one in that moment. "He's a good man. He'd be a good father."

"Yes, he would." Martha took a sip of the wine, curling her toes against the edge of the wood table. "Richard told me your Al's father isn't exactly in the picture either."

She hesitated, not sure if she was angry at the writer for sharing the information with his mother, angry at herself for telling such personal facts in the first place, or touched that the woman remembered. Kate decided to go with a combination of the last two. "You could say that."

Martha knew not to dig, not when she could already sense how intensely private the younger woman was, especially when it came to the five year old currently giggling as the buttered bread gave a sizzle on the griddle when Castle put it on the hot surface. Castle's eyes caught Kate's as he looked up and the smile that spread across her face wasn't forced or fake this time. Then the writer's head ducked to talk to the girl on the counter.

* * *

><p>"What do you think they're talking about over there?" he asked Al, pressing a spatula down on one of the sandwiches to melt the cheese.<p>

Al turned to look over at the women but Castle caught her cheek and kept her from looking. "What?" Al asked, sort of glaring at Castle but not managing the expression.

"Don't let them see that we're looking at them," he whispered. "Secret agents don't give up their position." He tapped Al's nose with his free hand. "Ever. So, they planning to overtake our stronghold in the kitchen or what?"

Her heels drum a rhythm against the cupboards below the counter, breaking a piece of cheese off the slice in her hand and popping it into her mouth. Her head was tilted to the side, some of the shorter strands of her hair that escaped from the braid falling against her cheek as she thinks. "Maybe. Mom gets cranky when she doesn't eat."

"Does she…?" Castle mused, flipping a sandwich. "Good thing we're cooking for her. Nothing like a cranky Mom to bring down the mood. You know what else this means?" he asked, leaning close to the girl's ear as if imparting the biggest secret in the world.

"What?" Al shifted closer to Castle, careful not to put her thigh up against the griddle's side.

"They have to clean," he said, nodding toward his mother and Kate. "It's the law."

Al's eyes narrow as Castle moves back, sliding one of the finished grilled cheese sandwiches onto the larger platter. "I don't believe you."

Castle shrugged. "Then you can clean up."

"No!" Al squealed, giving Castle a shove on his cheek. It was barely strong enough to move his face to the side but Castle staggers backwards, catching himself on the opposite counter. It takes every bit of acting ability he has not to laugh at Al's horrified face as she tries to get off the counter to help him. "Rick, you okay?"

They have an audience now. Both Martha and Kate are watching them, his mother openly amused while Kate seems to teeter between laughter and concern.

"Go along with it, Al," he hissed, dropping the spatula and using both hands to clutch at his face. "Oh, my face!" he howled dramatically. "Is it still there?" He turned to face the women in the living room, gesturing wildly to his cheek. "Please tell me the damage isn't irreversible!"

Martha shook her head at Kate. "He inherited some of my acting ability. It's in his bones." Then she got up from the couch, heading for the stairs. "Have your new friends check on your face, darling."

Kate pushed up from the couch after Martha moved into the kitchen, examining the drink selection in the fridge, whistling a tune that sounded faintly like the first line of 'Beauty and the Beast.' Kate's heels clicked on the tile of the kitchen as she joined Castle and Al near the griddle.

"Come on, Rick. Let's see the wound," Kate said with a wink toward Al.

Castle turned his face so that Kate could examine his cheek. As her fingers danced over the skin, unmarked save for the faint trace of stubble from the day, he winced playfully. "Be gentle, Kate. I'm injured."

"Kiss him better, Mom!" Al suggested, bouncing on the counter. All three adults turned to look at the girl. She shrugged. "That's what you do with me when I get a boo-boo. Kiss it better."

Kate swallowed, ducking her head but still checking for Castle's reaction through her lashes. He didn't seem entirely shocked but he was blinking a little faster. Martha was laughing quietly in front of the open refrigerator, shaking her head as she continued to whistle.

"Come, Kate. Can't have this get any worse than it already is," he murmured, a smile tugging at his lips as he shifts so his cheek is closer to Kate. "It's starting to swell up, I can feel it."

She wanted to refuse, laugh it off as a joke and sit down to eat dinner with her daughter, their friend, and his mother. But since all three of them were staring at her, waiting, she sighed. In a swift motion so her mind couldn't make her body back out of the decision, Kate rolled up on the balls of her feet and brushed her lips against his jawline. Barely a kiss. Then she stepped back, her tailbone hitting the counter as she tucked her hands into her pockets.

"Better, Rick?" she asked, arching a brow.

His finger pressed against his cheek, smiling. "Definitely." He stooped to get the spatula from the ground where he had let it fall, washing it off under the sink quickly before finishing the rest of the sandwiches. Carrying the platter of grilled cheese, he moved past her, whispering, "Thanks, Kate."

Kate helped Al down from the counter as Castle set the plates out on the dining table. "See? All better, Mom," Al said with a grin. "Always works."

"What can we get you two to drink?" Martha asked, pouring water out of a pitcher from the fridge.

"Water's fine, Martha," Kate said, keeping an eye on Al as she climbed onto one of the seats. "Let me help with the soup, though."

Martha gave her a little nudge back toward the table. "Please. I'm warming up a can of Campbell's. Go sit and talk."

Kate took the glasses of water and set them out in front of everyone's spot before taking the chair next to Al. She only realized she was kitty-corner to Castle when he nudged her with the toe of his shoe. His smile is enough to reassure her of her actions in the kitchen; they were amusing Al, nothing big. Still friends.

"Big happenings at school today, Al?" he asked, interrupting Al's fiddling with the silverware; she had been tapping the spoon on the handle of the knife at different places, listening to the change in tone.

Al grinned, holding the spoon in her fist as she talked about the book they were reading as a class before transitioning to the music lesson they had ended with. She complained about how no one could hold a tune and that even the teacher was getting a little frustrated.

"Not like you, Mom. You have a pretty voice," Al said, taking a bite of the sandwich.

"Does she now?" mused Castle, turning his eyes onto Kate from where they had been listening to Al's little story.

Kate wanted to kick her daughter's shin but the girl was already nodding away. "Oh yes. She sings in the shower."

"And the plot thickens," he said with a grin in Kate's direction around a spoonful of soup. "Don't worry, Kate. Won't make you sing in front of all these people."

The word 'yet' hung in the air, unspoken, but Kate could see that it was written all over his mischievous face.

Dinner, which Kate thought would be awkward and silent with the combination of her shy daughter and Castle's over-the-top mother, was anything but. Martha was able to draw Al out of her shell, talking about art projects and a mutual dislike for math and science. Castle chattered about his latest toy for procrastination: virtual bubblewrap.

It hit Kate as she took a sip of water, letting the conversations surround her, a calming blanket. This was what a family should be like at dinner. Talk over comfort food about school and work after the day was over.

This was what her family dinners had been like growing up. The three of them at the worn table, her parents listening to her stories from school while exchanging long, meaningful glances across the table at one another.

Neither Castle nor Al had experienced that, not really. Jim and the group of friends that had taken Al on as a loved niece were poor substitutes for a permanent father-figure. She couldn't speak to Castle's life as a child but she got the sense it was even emptier of friends that stayed with him as his mother travelled around the country for shows.

"Mom? Time to go home?" Al asked, tugging on Kate's sleeve.

Her watch told her that, yes, they should probably get going. Al had school the next day and there was a bedtime to stick to. "Once we help Rick and Martha clean up, kid."

"Oh, don't worry yourselves," Martha said, taking their empty plates and sweeping toward the sink. "Richard and I can handle ourselves."

"Please," Kate said, getting up to bring Al and her bowls to the sink. "Let us just clear the table off at least."

Before either Castle or Martha could protest further, Kate and Al had the dishes in the sink, soaking in hot, bubbly water. Practiced ease from the same motion back at their own home. Martha did pluck the sponge from Kate's hand as she started to wash one of the plates, tossing it back into the sink telling her that "Richard will handle that."

Castle had their jackets when they walked over to the door, helping Al into hers before holding Kate's leather jacket out by the shoulders. Kate slipped her arms into the sleeves, letting Castle settle it on her body before he stepped out in front of them.

"It was lovely, ladies," he said a moment before Al wrapped herself around his legs in a hug.

"Thanks, Rick," she mumbled into his thigh, giving him a squeeze before letting go. "See you tomorrow?" she asked, looking up at Kate rather than at the writer.

Kate gave Al's hair a tug. "We'll see, kid." Al took it and dashed over to say goodbye to Martha who was loading up the dishwasher with their glasses.

"Not to be repetitive, but thanks." Kate put her hands in her pockets, smiling at him in the doorway. "It was… It was really nice."

"Yeah, it was." He stepped closer, his hand hesitating along her upper arm before pulling her into a hug. "Plus, my cheek feels much better."

"So glad," Kate said, giving him a pat on the wounded cheek. "Sure that would have affected your writing terribly."

"You have no idea." His blue eyes sparkled with amusement. "You'll pick me up tomorrow morning to get to the precinct?"

Kate put her hands in the pockets of her jacket, giving a gesture that was a mixture of a shrug and a nod. "Probably around eight thirty or so. I'll text you when I'm outside." With Al back at her side, Kate let Castle open the apartment door, leaning on the doorframe as they stood in the hallway. "Have a good night, Martha, Rick."

"And you," Martha called back.

"See you tomorrow," Castle said as he closed the door, going back into the kitchen to help clean the dishes that weren't safe in the dishwasher.

"She's a lovely girl." Martha was running the pink sponge over a plate, wiping the crumbs from the sandwiches off it. "And so is that Al." Then she turned on him, eyes all seriousness. "Don't let them go, Richard. Not those two."

Castle leaned a hip against the counter, taking the plate from his mother and drying it off with a dishtowel. "I don't plan on it, Mother. Not for a long while."


	22. Chapter 22

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

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><p>Kate drove single-handedly from Al's school to Castle's apartment building, a bagel half in one hand that she nibbled at while sitting at stop lights. Breakfast had been rushed since both Kate and Al had overslept; Kate her actual alarm and Al her internal one. Al had eaten in the car on the way to school, still overjoyed from dinner the previous night with Castle and his mother.<p>

The curb right outside of the building was empty and Kate sent a quick thank you to the sky for the prime spot before throwing the car into park and pulling her cellphone out of her pocket. She texted Castle, leaving the phone on the dashboard to wait for the writer. She had reservations about how well he would handle himself in real situations. If she wasn't going to lie to herself, she still had reservations. Richard Castle was a good man; dinner last night had proven that beyond a reasonable doubt, but sometimes being a good man wasn't enough. Today should be okay, she thought to herself. More interviews and the autopsy that Esposito had texted her to bring Castle to. She had the faint suspicion that it was the boys' form of hazing and she completely supported their little act.

The passenger door opened and Castle slipped into the heated car, two travel mugs in his hands. "Morning, Detective." He held out one of the mugs to her, then saw the bagel. "I bring you coffee but you don't bring me food?"

Kate ate the last bite of the bagel and took the offered travel mug. It wasn't plastic but heavy ceramic, warming her hands. She took a careful sip, unsure of the temperature of the liquid inside, but found her tastebuds still intact. It wasn't her usual latte, but coffee sweetened with cream and sugar. "Thanks, Castle." Then she put it into the cup holder in the console and started toward the precinct uptown.

"Why do you call me that?" Kate glanced over at him and found his brows furrowed, head tilted to the side inquisitively. "Castle. Why just my last name?"

She shrugged. "Habit while on the job. Last names. Why? Does it bother you?" She let pedestrians cross in front of her before zipping up to the stop light.

"Not at all! Makes me feel like a cop. One of the brothers in blue."

"You know you aren't, right?" she asked the man. "And we don't actually call ourselves 'brothers in blue.'"

"What disappointment. And it's only eight thirty-six." He took a sip of his coffee, setting the cup on his knee. "I can only imagine what the rest of the day has in store."

* * *

><p>Boringness spread thickly over a slice of tedium with a dash of dullness. That was what Castle had been so excited to get to.<p>

When they walked off the elevator, Ryan intercepted them from the mailboxes along one wall where files were left for detectives.

"What'd you get from the son yesterday?" Kate asked, taking her jacket off and tossing it on the back of her chair.

Ryan was eyeing the coffee cups the two of them held as he told them about the husband, Stephen. He propped a hip against Kate's desk while Castle settled in her visitor's chair, leaning an elbow on the corner to listen in.

"Apparently Stephen was coming home later and later in the day. Claimed he was pulling overtime because they needed the extra money. Marianne was getting suspicious so she started tracking Stephen's phone using some high-tech app."

"Let me guess," Castle interjected with a grin. The ball was in his field now. "Instead of filing," he turned to Ryan, "what was his job?"

Ryan flipped through a few of his notebook pages. "Teacher. High school English."

Castle nodded, then dug back into his story. "Instead of grading his students' Shakespeare test from the day before, looking at how they butchered quotes from _The Tempest_, our high school teacher was tutoring," he said the word with a waggle of his eyebrows, clearly implying that it didn't not mean what they word typically meant, "one of his students. One of the pretty blonde girls that sat in the back, too busy trying to hide her texting habit than to hear another word about Miranda and female empowerment or Caliban and postcolonial readings of the play. So after class, she asks the sympathetic Mr. Kowal for some extra help. She needed that B+ to keep her GPA good enough to get into community college or her parents would kill her."

Now it's not just Ryan and Kate at the desk; uniforms have paused nearby, Esposito has swung his chair around to face the writer, and even Montgomery has hung up the phone and gotten up to stand in the doorway of his office. Castle noticed and he felt the familiar thrill of having a captive audience urge the story on.

"Mr. Kowal, of course, doesn't want a student to fail. He's been in her shoes before, parents that want their kid to achieve great things and wouldn't settle for less. He agrees to help her out, would she meet him in the classroom once the bell rings at the end of the day."

"Yeah, but she wasn't going for help with Shakespeare," Ryan interrupted.

Castle cut his protest off with a quick glare. "Let me tell the story, Detective Ryan. Anyway, he meets up with the girl only tutoring turns into quickies in the janitor's closet and in the folded up tables in the cafeteria and in the locker room of the gym."

This time, it was Kate that jumped in. "Lovely story, Castle. But there's one thing you're forgetting." He raised a brow as if to ask 'What?' and she sat back in her chair. "His phone showed that he wasn't in the school. If he was holding these scandalous meetings with his student in the school, Marianne would never have caught onto his cheating."

The writer deflated into the chair, his eyes squinting a little as if he were trying to figure out a way to make his story work to fit the fact he had forgotten about. Kate shook her head at him, turning back up to Ryan.

"So, he was cheating?"

Ryan nodded. "Oh yeah. With this woman." He laid a photo of an attractive redhead. "Abigail McKenna."

Kate took a sip of her coffee, shifting the DMV photo over so Castle could see it. "Do we have Stephen and Miss McKenna coming in?"

"Around noon."

"Thanks, boys," Kate called out loud enough for Esposito to hear the words. "Since we got nothing from the law firm. Everyone there didn't notice anything different going on with Marianne's life and there weren't recorded messages from the killer. Completely blank."

"Good thing you've got us on your team, Beckett," Esposito said, fist-bumping his partner when Ryan sat at his desk. "You'd never get anything done without us."

She rolled her eyes, taking the copy of Abigail McKenna's driver license photo and put it into the file on her desk. Then she took out a different folder and pulled up the same reports he had watched her fill out the night they had shared pizza and conversation.

"This is it?" he asked, opening up the file for the Kowal case and scanning the information. "More reports and paperwork? Where're the intense interrogations and gun battles?"

"Castle, remember when I told you about the glamorous life of a cop?" Kate asked, not looking away from the screen of her computer as her fingers typed out a statement she had handwritten in her notebook. She did see his little nod out of the corner of her eye. "The car was only the first part. This is the second step. Paperwork and waiting."

He looked sad, disappointed with the turn of events. "This is nothing like what happens on primetime TV, you know. _CSI: NY_ and _Law and Order_ blow this way out of proportion."

"But hey. You saved us from the third aspect." Kate paused her typing and held up the travel mug of still-warm coffee. "The stuff in the break room is shit."

"I recall," he muttered, sipping from his own mug. "But you're welcome."

Castle helped Kate with the paperwork, reading off statements and dates and times and causes of death. By the time Mr. Stephen Kowal and Miss Abigail McKenna stepped off the elevator, trying to hide the fact they had been holding hands until that point, the pile with the most folders to file was not Kate's incomplete pile but the one that needed to go down to Records. She had time to smile thankfully at the writer before getting up and going to meet the man and woman just inside the bullpen. Castle stayed in the visitor's chair, shifting after hours of being in the same position, half leaning onto the desk to see the computer screen but still sitting so he could read the file he had open on his lap.

"Mr. Kowal, Miss McKenna, I'm Detective Beckett," he heard her say to the couple in introduction. Castle glanced over, watched as she shook their hands. He wondered how she did it, how she put the suspicion that she was looking at the people that may have worked together to murder Marianne to the back of her mind and keep a small smile on her face.

There was a moment where Castle thought Stephen was going to swing out at Kate and he was halfway out of the chair before Abigail placed a hand on his arm. Then Abigail was going with Ryan and Esposito down the hall while Kate opened the door to another room right off the bullpen.

"Castle." He looked up from the pad of paper he had been doodling on, content to wait for her to return from the interview. "You coming?"

"Really?" he asked, then decided not to question her decision. He jumped up, taking the notebook with him and jogging over to the door.

Kate stuck a finger out and poked him in the chest. "Just remember, I can kick you out if I need to. Don't speak. Let me get him to confess then you can ask all the questions you want."

"Got it."

She let him go into the room first, closing the door behind them. "Thanks for coming in, Mr. Kowal. We really appreciate your cooperation as we sort this out."

The man swallowed, wiping a hand over his forehead. "It's tragic. Marianne was a good woman, even if we did have our differences."

Castle stood back to the side of the mirror that took up one wall, nodding at the other man before Kate sat at the table. He watched as Kate guided the man through simple questions about Marianne, not a word she said letting on that they were looking at him as a suspect.

"And where were you yesterday morning, between four and six?" Kate asked, setting her pen down on the table next to her notepad, linking her fingers and looking over at the man across from her.

"I don't think I like-"

Kate interrupted with a winning smile, one that disarmed the other man completely. "Just protocol, Mr. Kowal. You understand, right?"

It put him at ease, Castle noticed, and Stephen sat forward. "I was in bed."

"Alone?"

"No. With Abbie."

"Miss McKenna?" Kate asked, clarifying for the record.

Stephen nodded, glancing from Kate to Castle, then back. "She's my… Oh, what does it matter now. Abbie's my girlfriend."

"And did Marianne know about you and Miss McKenna?"

"Detective, this is my personal life!" Stephen said, getting up from the table and pacing the short length of the interview room. His hands went from in his pockets to running over his head as he turned to face Kate. "I don't see what it has to do with Marianne's death."

Kate didn't let his outburst phase her as she picked up the pen, twirling it in her fingers as she watched Stephen walk the room. "Just answer the question, Mr. Kowal."

"No, I don't think so. We were careful."

The knock, light and barely audible, on the glass window had Kate getting to her feet, tucking the notebook under arm. "Won't be more than a minute, Mr. Kowal." She jerked her head at Castle, indicating the door.

Ryan and Esposito were waiting outside the door as Kate shut it with a click. "What'd you get?"

"That they did it." Esposito looks rather proud of the statement as he hands over a signed confession. "Miss McKenna is *not* a great liar. She broke not three questions in, just shouted that she and Stephen had gotten sick of hiding their relationship from Marianne and took her out. True love conquers all."

Kate grinned, handed the confession back to Esposito, and opened the door back to the room with Stephen in it. "I'm sorry but your girlfriend rolled on you. Mr. Stephen Kowal, you're under arrest for the murder of Marianne Kowal." She read him his Miranda rights as one of the uniforms from outside the door put cuffs on the man's wrists.

On the walk back to her desk, Kate glanced at Castle. "Little more exciting or still disappointed in our less-than-TV life here?"

They didn't sit. Instead, Kate swung her jacket on, flipping her hair from under the collar. "Where're we going?"

"The morgue. Need to chat with the medical examiner about cause of death so I can put in the report." She flashed a quick thumbs-up to the boys on her way past them then stuck her hands in her pockets. "Maybe you can ask her some questions; you didn't really get a chance at the scene yesterday."

Kate texted Lanie on the walk from the precinct doors to the car, filling her in on the plan that the boys had e-mailed her the previous night. She knew Lanie would be game to play a trick of the writer and the other woman promised Kate she'd have something planned by the time they got from the precinct uptown to the medical examiner's office.

"This does not look like a morgue," Castle commented as they parked outside the building.

He was right. It looked like an office building, only the plaque on the side of the door with the seal of the City of New York marking it as different from the others. They pass through the light security check inside, Kate skirting around the metal detectors with a flash of her badge while she waited for Castle to collect his phone, wallet, and the handful of change from his pockets. Then she led the way down a stairwell to the floor below them, Castle following behind like a kid seeing a museum for the first time. The cream walls had black and white prints of city landmarks, further disguising the fact that the place held some of the worst heartbreak during an investigation.

Kate pushed through a door with only a small circular window in it.

Lanie had not been lying about having something set up for the writer. The woman was wearing a cover-all over her scrubs, a large plastic shield over her face, and a scalpel in her hands. She had just finished the Y incision on the body's chest when Kate and Castle entered so she stopped, set the tool on the metal tray at her elbow, and flipped the shield up.

"Afternoon," she said with a smile for both of them. "I take it this is your shadow, Beckett?"

Castle was frozen just inside the door, eyes darting around the room as he tried to take it all in. Kate had to give him a nudge to get him to realize that Lanie had spoken. "Oh, yes. Richard Castle," he said, holding a hand out before he noticed her gloved hands, blood staining the tips of her fingers.

Lanie only grinned, her gaze flickering to Kate who had wandered over to her friend's desk to steal a few Runts from the bowl on the desk. "Doctor Lanie Parish, medical examiner. It's a real pleasure to meet you, Mr. Castle. Like Beckett there, I've read most of your books. You sure you haven't murdered anyone?"

"Fairly certain my hands are clean," he replied, glancing at Kate who had ducked her head to hide the faint blush coloring her cheeks from the mention of how many books of his she had read. Lanie was underestimating; Kate had read every single one, some multiple times. Neither of them needed to know that. "Why do you ask, Doctor?"

"Oh, just Lanie." The woman picked up the saw that looked like it belonged in the woods rather than in a morgue. She lowered the shield again before examining the chest of the woman. "You have a gift with the details of death that I've rarely seen from a person who hasn't killed someone."

Their little plan went to hell when Castle leaned in to see what Lanie was doing with the saw against the woman's ribs. Lanie kept looking over at Kate who only looked confused as she watched the writer. She was surprised he hadn't pulled out his phone and started snapping pictures. Well that hadn't worked. The boys would be upset that the writer hadn't run from the room in search of a bathroom.

So Kate stepped away from Lanie's desk, stopping near the door. "You have cause of death yet or do I have to wait on the full autopsy?"

Lanie paused, tapping the saw against the side of the metal table. "I'd say that your COD is gunshot. Looked like a nine mill to her throat from a close range. That's with about a ninety-five percent surety. You find me the gun, I'll be able to match it and get that up to one-hundred percent."

"The husband and his girlfriend killed her. Confessed, so we'll just wait on your full report before filing with the district attorney." Kate looped her arm through Castle's to pull him back toward the door. "Thanks, Lanie."

"But… Hey, I want to watch!" Castle said even as the autopsy doors closed behind them. "That was too cool!"

Kate had her phone in her hand, texting Ryan to let him know the plan had failed. "Maybe next time, Castle. Right now, we need to get back to the precinct and finish up that paperwork."

They got into the car, Kate stashing the NYPD plate that had let her park illegally outside the medical examiner's office in the glove compartment. Castle gave the underside of the dashboard a little kick with his shoe.

"I could learn to hate paperwork, you know, Beckett."

"Oh, Castle, you've barely scratched the surface of the paperwork that goes along with a case." Her phone vibrated as Ryan texted her an updated plan for the next case, one that had her stifling a laugh and deleting the message before Castle could lean over and sneak a peek. "Once we file with the district attorneys, they'll be sending us forms about cutting deals, court appearances, motions, evidence vouchers. And then, if we get a conviction, there's the stuff from corrections that we need to verify."

"I see now why you are so behind on your paperwork…" he muttered. Then he sat up straight, looking over at her. "Can we stop and get more real coffee before going back? The shop is around here."

He was right; the coffee shop was right around the corner. And a five minute stop for a latte that would make the paperwork a little less dreary would be welcome. She parked a few spots down from the front of the shop, let Castle hold the door open for her.

She was toying with the idea of getting cookies to bring back to the boys, a celebratory treat for breaking the case open, when Castle bumped against her shoulder.

"I really like this place." She arched a brow at him, stepping forward with the line. "And yes, I'm being sentimental. I'm glad you and Al came in here that day." He ordered them coffee, added in half a dozen of the cookies he had seen her eyeing, and paid before she could pull out her wallet. When he saw her eyes narrowing into what was becoming a glare, he held a hand out. "I'm the new guy. Let me butter everyone up."

This time, she was the one elbowing him in the side. "Bud, everyone likes you already. You're probably the most famous thing to hit the Twelfth. You'll have people begging to press the elevator button for you so you don't hurt those million dollar fingers."

Castle took down her latte, grabbing his own caramel macchiato in the same hand as the white bakery bag. When she reached for her cup, he pulled it back out of her reach.

"What?" she asked, tempted to put her hands on her hips but resisted; it looked like one of those movements that she pulled with Al when she was upset. Too motherly for the grown man in front of her.

Kate wished she had when he threw her a charming smile. "Even you, Kate?"

"Even me what?"

"Will you be running to my aid with the oh-so horrible elevator buttons?" he questioned, moving toward the exit and opening the door with his hip.

Kate glared at the back of his head, following him to the car, and hitting the unlock button on her keychain. "No. You're on your own with those."

She snatched the coffee cup out of his hand, getting into the driver's seat as he settled next to her. That grin was still on his face as he broke a piece of one of the cookies off, popping it into his mouth. "Because you're not a fan."

Her silence was his answer.


	23. Chapter 23

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>It didn't happen often. Normally she could line up either her dad or one of the boys or Lanie to watch Al but Jim was taking a long weekend to go hunting up at the cabin upstate and everyone else had to work. Kate didn't want to bring Al into the precinct; her daughter would get bored after an hour and spend the entire day tripping up detectives even if she didn't mean to.<p>

Kate groaned in frustration, her head falling back along the couch. The evening news was playing on the TV but she hadn't been paying attention for at least thirty minutes, letting the pretty meteorologist fill her in on the weather for the rest of the week. Apparently, it was going to snow pretty heavily, a surprise considering it was nearly halfway through March and had been nice up to that point. Her phone taunted her from the coffee table where she had tossed it ten minutes ago after the conversation with her father about watching Al for the day.

There was one person she could call but she didn't like calling in a favor on such short notice. But there was no one else on her list of possible and it was worth a shot. She needed someone. She leaned forward, grabbing the phone and scrolling through the contacts. Before she could back out again, Kate hit 'Call' and waited for the person to pick up.

"Hello?"

Just his voice made her feel a little lighter, filled her with the possibility that he would say 'yes.' "Hey, Rick."

"Kate? What's up?"

She sat back, pulling one of the throw pillows from the couch into her lap, playing with the tassel at the corner. "Uh, nothing much. You?" Oh. Small talk. She was nervous.

And she could tell that Castle knew. "Writing. Well, outlining mostly. Any interruption is a welcome one. Especially one from you."

If she beat around the bush, Kate knew she'd hang up. So she took a deep breath and started speaking. "Listen, I need to ask a favor. And you're free to say 'no' but-"

"Kate, what do you need?" He sounded a little like her father did when Kate had asked him about going out to a party with friends, like he knew what was coming and didn't need any chatter beforehand.

She took his cue to just ask. "Are you free tomorrow?"

The quiet click of keys on a laptop was in the background as he spoke. It was late and she was a little surprised that he was still awake after the case they'd had. "Don't we have work?"

We? That was new. Kate shook her head, biting her lower lip for a moment. "Yeah." She nudged a magazine on the coffee table with her toe. "Rick, I already called my dad and everyone else is busy so you're really my last resort so-"

"You need someone to watch Al."

Kate deflated on a sigh. He got it. He got it without making her say the words. She could have hugged him. "Yes."

"I'd love to."

"Don't feel pressured," Kate jumped in, trying to give him an out if he needed it. "I can find someone in the building if you'd rather be-"

"Kate." He was getting good at interrupting her. It made her scrunch her face up, not used to having someone jump in on her. "I wouldn't have said 'yes' if I didn't mean it and want to."

"Thank you. Seriously, Rick. I owe you."

"You owe me nothing. Now, what time should I be by to keep Al entertained while you get to do all the superhero crime-fighting stuff?"

Kate told him to try and get over by eight fifteen then rattled off her address. She hadn't given it to him and she had figured he would have used some illegal website to find it. The fact that he hadn't gone behind her back to find where she lived just made her trust him a bit more.

He hung up somewhere in the middle of her stream of repeated thanks, telling her that he would be on-time and ready to spend the day with what he said was the most enchanting child he ever did meet.

* * *

><p>The knock at the door jolted Kate out of sleep. One hand reached for her bedside drawer where her backup piece is as the other threw off the blankets. Sleep clouded her mind as she flipped the safety off the Sig as she padded down the hall past Al's still-dark room to the front door. Kate nearly fainted when she looked through the peep hole and saw who was standing on the other side.<p>

She tried to hide the gun but her leggings and t-shirt really offered no cover. Kate opened the door, pushing her hair back from her face realizing how tangled it was.

"Hey," Castle said with a smile. His hands were in the pockets of his peacoat but a bag swung from the wrist of one of his hands. "You going to shoot me? Because that is really no way to thank me for coming over last minute."

Shit. Kate stepped aside and closed the door behind him. "My alarm didn't go off." Well that had nothing to do with his question, smart one, she told herself.

"I can see." He was careful not to let his eyes travel up and down her body too many times but he had noticed the pajamas as soon as she had opened the door.

Kate rubbed at her eyes, putting the gun on the kitchen counter as she programmed the coffee machine. She took down two mugs, set them next to the machine before putting bread into the toaster. "Sorry about this, Rick. I haven't slept much lately." She turned around to see him still standing just inside the doorway. "But you know why, of course."

The case from the last week had made the list of Kate's worst top ten. The Commissioner had been breathing down Montgomery's neck so the entire team had been on edge. Kate had spent a few nights sleeping on the couch in her captain's office since Esposito always beat her to the one in the break room. Even then, none of them really got more than a couple of hours a night before they were back at the board or pouring over financial statements that had taken over the conference room table. Jim had watched Al for the week and Kate had tried to call every night to talk to her daughter, hear about her day at school and what Grandpa was making for dinner and how much she missed Mom. After every phone call, Kate had disappeared into the break room to collect herself, ignoring Castle's glances that had followed her.

After they had finally closed the case, Montgomery forced them all to take a day off, spend it sleeping and eating like normal humans, see their friends and family, and come back Saturday.

And Kate had. She'd picked Al up from her father's, dropping off a box of his favorite cookies from one of the corner bakeries, then spent the day with Al in Kate's bed. They'd painted their toenails, Kate had finished reading Al _Charlotte's Web_, and they'd eaten ice cream for dinner. For the first time in the week, Kate had felt human.

She wasn't sure what Castle had done yesterday with his day off from following her around but he looked significantly better than she did. Especially since he was dressed and wide awake while she was standing in her kitchen in pajamas after nearly pointing a gun at him.

Castle dropped the bag onto the ground behind the couch, leaning his back against the furniture, and tilting his head so a lock of brown hair fell across his forehead. "I get it. Go get dressed, Kate. I'll watch the toast."

Kate changed out of her pajamas into jeans and a pale pink sweater; it was the weekend and no one would be dressed in typical business casual at the precinct that day. She did add a tan blazer over the sweater to try and bump it up into a more formal category but Kate really wasn't trying. She pulled her hair into a bun, brushing the escaping strands back behind her ear before putting on mascara. Unlocked her safe and took out her gun, keeping the clip out of the weapon for now.

She heard the sound of coffee being poured in the kitchen as she carried her shoes into Al's room. The sunlight was peeking through the bottom of the blinds, giving Kate a bit of illumination on the path over to her daughter's side.

"Hey, Al?" she whispered into the girl's ear.

Al rolled over, her hand covering her eyes even as she moaned, "What?"

"I'm going to work. Rick's going to be in the living room until I get home, okay?"

"Yeah…"

"Love you." Kate snuck back out of Al's room after placing a quick kiss on her daughter's cheek, leaving the door cracked again.

Castle handed her a mug of coffee as she entered the kitchen, pointing to the plate of toast on the counter. "I wasn't sure how you took it so…"

Kate took a sip of the coffee and sighed. "Thanks." She picked up one of the slices and bit into it without any butter or jam. "Did you eat before you came over? Because you're free to help yourself to whatever you can find."

"Ate before I came. But I'm sure I'll scrounge something up for lunch for Al and I," he said, watching as Kate managed to put her shoes on while balancing the coffee mug in one hand and holding the toast between her teeth. He didn't look away when she straightened, chewing the toast as she put the clip of her gun in place, checking the safety.

She caught him staring as she snapped the holster closed at her hip. "What?"

His smile was barely hidden behind his coffee cup. "Nothing. You just look kinda sexy when you do that. The whole woman-with-a-gun thing."

"Just remember I know how to use it, Rick," she said, pulling a coat down from the closet and swinging it on. "And I know where you live."

"Touché, Detective."

"You're sure you'll be alright?" she asked, shouldering her bag and glancing down the hall toward Al's room.

He surprised her by walking over and opening her own door for her, giving her a little shove on the shoulder. "I'll be golden. And Al will be fine. I'll text with hourly updates if you want."

Kate paused in the doorway, turning to look at him with a sheepish smile on her face. "I'm being ridiculous, aren't I?"

"Kinda, yeah. But it's sweet." He nodded toward the hallway outside the apartment. "Go on, Kate. We'll be fine until five o'clock."

"Then I'm treating for dinner." Kate held up a finger when Castle opened his mouth. "No arguments, Rick. I want to."

As soon as she was out of the apartment, Castle grabbed the bag from against the couch. He had brought over the Nintendo 64 that had been gathering dust next to the Wii and X-Box 360 along with Mario Kart. He'd spent hours playing the game either against his mother when she wasn't rehearsing or memorizing lines or against the computer. He had a feeling that Al would love the competitiveness of the game but he did notice the rather large collection of Disney and Dreamworks movies on the shelf that he could turn to if the girl wasn't amused by the challenge of Rainbow Road.

Now, just to wait for her to wake up. Castle settled on the couch, the mug of coffee between his hands, and flipped on the TV to the morning talk shows, the volume low enough that he'd be able to hear if Al got up.

* * *

><p>Al rolled over, squishing her face into the pillow in an attempt to put herself back to sleep. Sometimes it worked and she'd be asleep for another hour or so. Today it failed. The sunlight that snuck around her window's curtains was bright and she was too warm under her pile of blankets.<p>

So she resigned herself to getting up. Al wrapped a fleece throw around her shoulders as she walked across the hall from her room to the bathroom, brushing her teeth. She checked Mom's room and found it dark and empty.

Right. Mom was at work. Rick was going to be with her all day.

Still dressed in her pajamas, Al went down the hall to the kitchen. It smelled like coffee making Al wrinkle her nose. She didn't know how Mom drank the stuff when it smelled so bad.

"Awake, Al?"

Over on the couch was Rick. Al smiled, running around the sofa to sit next to him. "Yeah."

"Breakfast?" he asked, switching the TV onto mute. Al looked exactly like Kate in the morning. Her hair was uncombed, a mess from sleep mussing up the braid she had obviously gone to bed in. He could see a line from the pillowcase still pressed into her forehead. But her eyes were bright and awake. Just like Kate's had been though he suspected that she had just rolled out of bed when he had knocked.

"Cereal!" Al exclaimed, tossing the throw blanket off her shoulders and sliding down to the floor again. "It's in that cupboard," she said, up on her toes as she pointed toward one of the cabinets above her. "Can you get it?"

He got up, walking over to take down the box of Cheerios and a bowl from the other cabinet that Al pointed to. Then he watched as she poured out the little circles and added milk. She wandered back over to the couch to curl up against the arm, the bowl of cereal in her lap, her eyes focused on the TV even though no words came out of the people on the screen.

"So, Al," he said, leaning his arms on the back of the couch and hanging his head down to her level. "Got plans for the day?"

She paused eating, looking over at him and giggling when she found him sideways. "Can we go to the zoo?"

"The Bronx Zoo?" Al nodded, taking another spoonful of Cheerios on the spoon and eating it. "I don't see why not. Let me check with your mom first," he said, tapping her on the nose before going into the kitchen to call Kate up.

"What's wrong, Castle?" she answered, sounding both concerned and annoyed at the same time.

Al had turned around on the couch, looking over the back, and watching him carefully. Hope was written all over her face. "It okay with you if Al and I go visit the zoo?"

After a minute of convincing the woman that he'd keep an eye on Al and that he was totally fine with the trip, Castle hung up. "Eat up, Lex. We're headed to the zoo!"

"Lex?" Al tilted her head, thinking.

"Not working for you?" She shook her head. "We'll stick with Al then."

Twenty minutes later, Al was dressed, bundled into her jacket, and sitting with Castle in the back of a cab on their way to the Bronx. Castle was probably just as excited as the girl next to him though he was doing a better job of hiding his joy. Al was bouncing on the seat, her face pressed to the window as she looked for a sign of an elephant or a tiger or a snake even as they passed through neighborhoods, not the zoo. It had been ages since he'd been to the zoo and Al gave him the perfect excuse to let his inner child out.

He paid for their tickets, keeping a hand in Al's so she wouldn't run off as soon as they walked into the zoo.

"What first, Al?" he asked even as the girl's eyes darted from place to place.

"Penguins! Penguins first!"

Castle grabbed a map from one of the bulletin boards just inside the entrance and unfolded it, searching the key for where the penguins would be. They'd have to pass by the sea lions and a building that housed animals from Madagascar before they got to the pool where the penguins lived. Maybe Al would want to stop and see those before they got to the penguins. Folding the map back up, Castle stuffed it into his back pocket and took the girl's hand again.

"This way, kid. To the tuxedos we go!"

Al skipped along at his side, pointing at a camel in the distance as they walked toward the sea bird area. She wanted to go to her favorite animal first, then, she told Castle, they could look at the other ones. When they reached the pool where the black and white birds lived, Al ran up to the fence, her fingers wrapping around the wire.

"Rick, look!" she said, pointing into the pool where penguins stood on rock formations.

He stepped behind her so she wouldn't tumble backwards, his hand running over her hair absently. "Penguins. Cool, right?"

She was totally transfixed by them. When two dove into the water, she squealed and did a little dance, turning around to make sure he was watching. A worker came out and started tossing fish to the birds which only made Al more excited as she saw the penguins leap out of the water to get food. A few seagulls joined in, trying to get a fish or two, but the zookeeper was good at keeping the penguins first on their priorities.

"Hey," he said, giving Al a little nudge with his knee once the woman with the bucket of fish disappeared again. "Want to go see some of the other animals?"

They looped around to see the sea lions clap and laugh at them before visiting a set of tigers that were bathing in the late winter sun. There were ducks and geese and some swans swimming in a pond that came before a pen of bears. Castle laughed as Al approached their area tentatively, watching one of the brown bears walk back and forth on the grass. Then she raised her arms up and roared at them. The bear didn't respond but the people around them did, smiling at the girl as she got closer to the mesh fence.

"She's adorable."

Castle glanced next to him where a couple stood, two children between them that were staring at Al as she continued to growl at the bears. "Yeah. She's something."

"You and your wife must be pretty proud," asked the man, his arm looped through the woman's arm.

He shook his head. "Oh, no. She's the daughter of a friend." He smiled, one eye on Al even still. "Just watching her for the day. Wanted to see the penguins."

"Ahh…" drew out the woman. "Well, she's lovely. Come on, you two. Time to get something to eat." The family went in the direction of the café, leaving Castle with Al again.

"Any other requests?" he asked Al. She had stopped taunting the bears and found herself back against Castle's side. "We can do snakes and lizards or gazelle and baboons," he said, consulting the map again, pointing out the two paths to the girl.

Al picked gazelles and baboons, claiming that snakes were yucky. As they went past the enclosure, Castle pointed out the giraffe that wandered the plains next to them. It dipped its head down to nibble at a patch of grass. Al giggled at the animal's wide stance as it ate. They continued on to see the gorillas, some monkeys, and a toucan that cawed at them as they stared.

By the time Castle led her toward the exit, Al was fading fast. He ducked into the store to buy a bottle of water for them both and somehow found a small stuffed penguin in the bag with him as he left. He'd hold onto it, wait for the right moment to gift the girl with the stuffed animal. In the cab, Al fell asleep with her head against his shoulder.

Castle carried the sleeping child up the flight of stairs to the apartment, going to unlock the front door but finding it open. Panic set in. He swore he had locked the apartment behind them as they'd left that morning using the key hanging next to the door. He wouldn't have been so stupid as to leave the place unsecure.

"Don't worry, Rick. It's just me." Kate's voice carried around the corner before she appeared in the kitchen. She studied them as he closed the door with his foot. "Dead or sleeping?"

"Sleeping," he replied. "Do you want her on the couch or in her bed?"

Kate nodded toward the hallway. "Better put her in bed. Less likely to roll off." She followed Castle down the hall. Together, they got Al's shoes off along with her jacket and tucked her under a few of the blankets.

They didn't speak until the door was closed and they were back in the living room. Kate poured Castle some water then sat on the couch. "You wore her out. I should get you to watch her more often."

"Just let her run around the zoo for a few hours. It was fun. Plus," he said, pulling out the penguin stuffed animal, "I snagged her this."

"Oh goodness, Rick," Kate sighed, taking the penguin and holding it on her knees in front of her. "She's going to love this." Then she handed it back, catching the grin on his face as he put the animal back into the bag. "Did she still growl at the bears?"

He laughed, short and quiet. "That's a regular occurrence then?"

"Yeah. She's done that pretty much every time we go." Kate nudged the Nintendo 64 with her foot. "You didn't get a chance to play Mario Kart with her." When he raised a brow at her, Kate smiled. "I might have looked through your collection of games that you toted over."

Castle shrugged. "The zoo was a better idea. I can play video games whenever."

"Like now?"

"Why, Detective Beckett. Are you challenging me to a competition?" he asked, turning to face her.

She got up, turning the console on, and putting the game in. "You're on, Rick. Whoever loses the most races makes dinner."

"Deal."

For the next hour, Kate and Castle did battle using race cars, game characters, and colorful tracks. Kate kept score on the back of a magazine using tally marks. By the time Al reappeared, fully rested and babbling about the animals, Kate was down by three. Castle only had to glance over the girl's head to let her know that he had won. So Kate got up, letting her daughter talk as she started to boil water for pasta.

"Oh, Mom," Al said with a happy smile. "It was great."

And Castle had to agree; it had been a pretty great day. The morning with Al, the afternoon with Kate. Spending nearly ten hours laughing so much that he was certain he had toned his abs significantly.

"I'll repeat it any time you want, Beckett ladies," he said, his eyes meeting Kate's as she stirred sauce for the spaghetti. "Maybe we can get Mom to join in next time," he stage-whispered to the girl next to him

"Mom! Come to the zoo with Rick and me!" she exclaimed.

"Maybe on my next day off, kid."


	24. Chapter 24

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>She picked him up outside the coffee shop, smiling as he handed her the cup of coffee once he buckled the seat belt. He knew her order by now without asking, claiming that, as a writer, he was trained to pick up on details of life that others would skim over without a second thought.<p>

"It's getting warmer, you know." Kate glanced over at him, tilting her coffee cup so it wouldn't splash out the top as she took the corner. She raised a brow, asking him 'So?' without using any words. "Don't you want to switch over to iced coffee or something?"

Defiantly, Kate took a sip of the latte, the still-hot liquid scalding her taste buds. "I like it hot."

"Yeah, but even when the sidewalks have the ability to cook eggs?" Castle asked, close to whining.

"Rick, it's barely even spring. I don't think the city is going to get hot enough to cook anything in the next two months. Plus," she said, putting the cup into the holder between them, "that whole cooking-eggs-on-the-sidewalks is an urban myth."

"Not true. I did it a few years ago. Except I made cookies instead of eggs."

Kate laughed, shaking her head. "Of course you did…"

"What? They were delicious. Absolutely delicious and I had no one to share them with."

Stuck at a stop light behind taxis and an SUV with a thundering bass, she took the moment to look over at him. "You weren't with…?"

"Meredith?" Kate nodded, pulling her lower lip between her teeth. "Yes, I was. But she was doing theatre. I was all alone with a batch of cookies. Ate them all in a single night while fighting through the last few chapters of _Kissed and Killed_. The stomach ache was worth it."

"That explains so much. The baking scene between…" Kate trailed off before saying the name, focusing on the road and hoping he wouldn't bring it up.

He did. Of course he did. "Oh my God, Kate! Did you name Al after my Detective Alexandra Jones?"

"No." It doesn't come out with the right amount of conviction to make it stick. Castle raised both his brows, smiling over at her. "I didn't! Besides, that book came out after Al was born. I've got an alibi."

"So, Al was born before 2005." He was thinking out loud more than talking to her but Kate still took a deep breath. Personal territory.

She decided to share. "2004. Mid-October."

He took a sip of his coffee, the ice sliding against one another as he stirred it with the straw. "It was cold that year here, wasn't it?" Kate glanced over and he shrugged. "I was in Los Angeles. Meredith was in a soap opera out there and it was easy for me to just up and move for the year."

"Yeah. It was cold." Kate still remembered the strange feeling of being cold but still boiling hot from the extra little body she was carrying around under her coat and scarf and multiple layers of sweaters. "I'm sure the weather in L.A. was lovely though."

"Sunshine and prime surfing."

Kate scanned the parking spots outside the precinct for an empty one and snagged the lone spot right outside the door as a marked car pulled out. "You surf?"

He snorted, getting out of the car and heading toward the precinct to open the door for her. "Yeah right. I'm more comfortable in a library than out facing waves with just a piece of fiberglass to depend on."

Peters tried not to let his mouth hang open as Castle and Kate walked by. It had been almost two months of Castle following Kate around like a loyal puppy and the desk sergeant still was not used to seeing the author in the precinct.

"Hey, Peters!" Castle called as they waited for the elevator. He'd admitted to Kate that he liked teasing the older man, either over his book choices or just for his own amusement. "Good book?"

Kate saw that Peters was reading the first book in the Hunger Games series. She'd read that one in a single night after putting Al to bed. It wasn't Peters's usual fare but they were good. Really good. She leaned against the wall next to the elevator, watching as Castle and the sergeant chatted about the plot. She was surprised that the two hadn't created a precinct book club yet with the amount of time they spent discussing various novels and short stories.

"Castle." He looked over, trailing off mid-sentence about the use of a dystopian society. "We've got a suspect waiting upstairs. Talk about the Games with Peters later, okay?"

He jogged over to get into the elevator before the metal doors closed. "You've read _The Hunger Games_before?"

"They're not just for teens, you know," she said, flipping through her phone messages to avoid looking at him. "The new one will be out this fall. I've pre-ordered."

"So many layers to you, Miss Katherine Beckett," he muttered as they stepped off into the bullpen.

"Beckett!" Esposito was standing next to his desk, waving a file over at them. "He's waiting in interrogation for you."

They'd been looking for one of the drug dealers that might have been wrapped up in the current case. He'd been good at hiding despite his size; his jacket said he was nearly six foot three. When Kate had left yesterday, the boys had told her that they'd keep looking at some of the man's usual hideouts, try and get a lock on his location. They must have been successful.

Kate dropped her jacket on the back of her chair as Esposito brought the file over. "Where'd you find him?"

"His favorite bar, celebrating the death of his rival. He spent the night in the tank sobering up. And he's all yours." As she smiled at him and moved to walk toward the interrogation room, Esposito caught her lower arm. "Beckett, you sure you want to do this alone?"

"What's the big deal?"

Castle came around her to stand next to the other detective. "The guy is nearly a half a foot taller than you. Plus he's seriously pumped and angry. He could throw you against the wall by lifting his pinky finger." He exchanged a glance with Esposito. "Let one of us in there with you."

Kate pushed past the two men, plucking the file from Esposito's hands. "Quit playing the macho man routine. I'll be fine."

The man was pacing inside the interview room, watching the reflective surface of the mirror carefully. He couldn't see into the observation room but the man kept trying to see through the window, flashing gross smiles of his grimy teeth at the watching people.

"Good morning, Mr. Albertson," Kate said, shutting the door behind her as she circled to the side of the table with one chair. She didn't sit, not ready to give him more of an advantage than he already had over her.

He didn't reply with words. Instead, he snorted and Kate wouldn't have been surprised to see steam come out of his nose like an angry bull.

So, Kate smiled sweetly, ready to play that game with him. "My detectives picked you up at a bar. Any reason you were there?"

"Cause I wanted to be," he grunted, circling the table. A predator.

"Yes, well, two days ago, one of your rivals turned up dead, Mr. Albertson. We chatted with the drug task force." Kate calmly clicked her pen on, flipped the file on the table open, and looked up at the towering man. Then she slid onto the table to watch him. "They say that the other man, a Mr. Denzel Hert, was killed in a method they had seen before."

Albertson crossed his arms but Kate could see the fists he was making. "So what?"

"Your method, Mr. Albertson. Hert was killed the same way you killed three other men that tried to step in on your turf." Kate picked a photo out of the file, placed it on the table for him to see.

The photo had been taken at the crime scene. The man in it was missing an ear, part of his nose, and his front teeth. Lanie had confirmed that all of the body parts had been taken while the man was still alive. Then his throat had been slashed from side to side. The photo still showed the drying blood under his neck.

Albertson didn't so much as glance at the photo. "Big deal. Plenty of people could've done that."

"But they didn't," Kate said, standing with her back to the mirror. The man paced in front of her, his arms brushing hers as she watched him carefully. "It was you, Karl. Not someone else."

"Bitch, it wasn't me!" He broke as he yelled, turning in a flash to shove Kate against the mirror.

Kate felt her head connect with the glass, saw bright bursts of light behind her eyes. Albertson was jerking her forward, prepared to push her back against the wall when Kate heard the door open. The man was off her in an instant as one of the boys, maybe both of them, grabbed him.

"Kate!"

She heard Castle call her first name through the ringing in her ears. But she didn't move. She didn't trust her feet to carry her steadily without letting her fall by the time she reached the door. Instead, she braced herself on the little ledge of the mirrored window and tried to find her balance, taking stock of the injuries she could feel. There was certainly going to be a pair of bruises on her elbows from where they met the glass. She lifted up her free hand and tried to feel the back of her head.

"Here, I got it."

Kate felt Castle's arm wrap around her waist, shielding her body as Ryan and Esposito strong-armed Albertson out of the room. As soon as the huge man was past them, Castle eased back. Kate tried to hide the little give of her knees without him nearby. She attempted a smile.

"Exciting day, huh?" she said weakly.

Then winced as he gingerly pressed his fingers to the back of her head. "Looks like you've got a cut back there, Kate. Come on," he said. He took her hand, giving her a little tug out of the interrogation room.

She didn't try to free her hand as he sat her at her desk. Some uniform handed him a first aid kid. When Kate reached for it, Castle batted her hand away.

"Castle, I can handle it. It's not a broken bone or anything," she protested as he unlatched the plastic box. Before he could push her out of the way, Kate plucked out Advil, some gauze, and ointment. "Here." She shook out four of the pills and downed them without a sip of water. The throbbing would start soon enough and she wanted to get a head start on tampering it down.

He tilted her head forward, dabbing at the small cuts on the back of her head gently. Kate bit down on her lip so she wouldn't wince as he shifted her hair to get at some of them, smoothing the ointment over the scrapes. "There," he said, moving his fingers from her head. "You should probably do something with your hair so it doesn't keep brushing over them."

As he went toward the bathroom to throw away the rubber gloves he had put on and wash his hands, Kate put her hair in two braids. She always thought it made her look like a little kid, like Al, but if it would help air out the cuts she'd put up with it.

Ryan appeared around the corner as she ran a hand over her cheek, trying to refocus herself. "You okay, Beckett?"

"Yeah. Just a few little cuts and some bruises." She nodded back toward where the lockup was located. "He secure?"

"You bet." He propped a hip against her desk, snapping the first aid kit closed. "Sorry about that. He shouldn't have been-"

Kate waved him off. "You didn't have a chance. He was fast for his size." She looked up, gave Ryan a little shove on his shoulder. "Go write it up. I'll be fine."

Castle came back, alternating between walking and jogging. "You should go home, Kate."

"Really, Castle. I'm good."

He didn't look convinced as he lowered himself into the chair next to her desk. Castle placed the cup of water next to her hand, nudging it closer to her so the porcelain hit the back of her wrist. "Drink this. Then go home." Steel had entered his voice this time as she raised the cup to her lips. "Take the afternoon."

"Alone in my apartment?" Kate said, looking over at him from the corner of her eyes. "That's almost as painful as sitting here doing paperwork for the rest of the day."

"I'll come with you."

That had her blinking, not sure if she was surprised or shocked or just really wanted the company. "Castle, I-"

"No. It's decided." He got up, holding her jacket up for her to slip her arms into the sleeves. When she sat at her desk, watching him carefully, Castle tapped her shoulder. "Up, Kate. Coat on so we can get out of here."

She knew her mouth was hanging open but she stood and let him help her into the coat, swatting his hand away before he could button it. "I can handle buttoning my own jacket, Castle." She was just about to round the barrier between the elevator and the bullpen when Montgomery called out for her. "Sir, I'm taking the rest of the day. I'll be back tomorrow."

"Rest up, Detective. Keep an eye on her, Castle."

Kate glared a little at her captain as the elevator doors closed. She turned to face the wall, resting her forehead against the cool faux wood paneling. She sensed Castle at her back and waved him off. "I'm fine. Just… settling myself."

He hovered on the walk to the car, nipping at her heels on the short walk. When Kate reached into her pocket for the keys, he jingled them from behind her. "I picked your pocket when we were in the lobby. I'm driving you home."

And he didn't give her a chance to grab them back. So Kate slipped into the passenger seat, careful not to let her head fall back against the headrest, and watched Castle adjust the seat and mirrors before pulling out. The cuts were small but she could feel the swelling around them puffing up the back of her head making every movement a little tender.

Again, she didn't let him help her into the building or unlock her front door. Kate dropped into her couch, pulling her knees up to her chest. She heard Castle rummaging around the kitchen until the clink of ice was heard followed by him pouring something.

"Here." This time it wasn't water he was handing her. He'd found the stash of whiskey she hid in the cupboard above Al's reach.

But she pushed it away, shaking her head. "No."

Castle sat on the couch next to her, putting the tumbler on the coffee table. "Well, it's there if you need it." He watched her place her chin on her knees, looking at the blank TV screen. "You sure you're okay?"

"I'm good, Rick. This is nothing compared to some of the messes I've gotten into." She smiled a little, glancing at him. "So, you've got me alone in my apartment. This count as a date?"

He shook his head, brushing hair back from her face from where it had escaped one of her braids. "No. Trust me, Kate." She looked over, saw the seriousness lying under the teasing in his eyes. "You'll know when we're on a date."

Kate was sure she would.


	25. Chapter 25

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>Two hours later, they hadn't moved much further than the couch. Kate had shifted so her back was against the cushioned arm so her head didn't keep hitting the back; she'd gotten tired of seeing him wince every time she did when she forgot about the cuts. When she moved from the center of the couch to the side, she swung her legs up onto the cushions. They didn't stay there for long. Castle scooted over and pulled her bare feet into his lap. She didn't try to reclaim them as he started to gently massage her soles.<p>

The TV was going in the background, white noise as they sat. He had turned on whatever had been in the DVD player and Kate had to hide a blush when the third season of Temptation Lane started playing. But Castle didn't seem to notice what was on the screen. He was watching her as she picked at her cuticle.

"Hungry?" she asked, looking up at him through her lashes. "It's lunchtime."

He didn't pause as he ran a finger over the arch of her foot, loosening the muscle there. Kate had to hold back a small sigh at the motion. "We couldn't have been here for that long. It was just breakfast a minute ago."

Kate held out her wrist so he could see the watch. "It's past noon, Rick." It took all of her energy to take her feet from his hands. Took even more not to put them back into his lap as she missed the warmth. "I'm starving. Sandwiches sound good?" Her toes curled against the chill of the kitchen tile as she reached for the bread, dug in one of the drawers for a knife.

"What kind?" he called from the couch, turning his head to look at her from his seat.

"Whatever kind I make."

"Aw, that's not fair, Kate!" He was on his feet, skirting the couch to stand next to her. He leaned on the counter, his chin on his hands as he rested his elbows on the polished granite. "I'm the guest. You're supposed to take orders."

Instead of listening to him whine, Kate pulled down the peanut butter from the cupboard, twisting the top off. She undid the tie on the loaf of bread, took out four slices of bread and set them on the cutting board.

As she scooped peanut butter from the jar, Castle's eyes narrowed at her. "Seriously? Peanut butter? What are we? Six?"

Kate grinned and smeared the knife of peanut butter over Castle's nose. "Shush you or you won't get anything."

He swiped the thick butter off his nose and, before Kate could jerk back, Castle wiped some of the peanut butter over her mouth. She gasped, dropping the knife onto the counter as she stared at him. He just grinned, eating the peanut butter off his fingers before heading for the bathroom to get the rest off.

"Just for that, you don't get a sandwich!" she called after him.

She heard the water turn on in the sink and took the chance to lick her lips. He hadn't really covered them with it so she was able to get most of it off before he returned. When she opened her mouth to berate him, he flicked his wet fingers at her and the water droplets hit her face.

"You are not winning any popularity points here." Kate picked up the knife and started spreading the bread with a layer of the peanut butter, resolutely avoiding his eyes.

Castle slipped his finger under her chin, forcing her to look at him. "Oh please, Kate. You love me."

It took her a moment to pull her head back, focus on the sandwiches and not his eyes. He moved away from her, grabbing glasses from the cabinet across the kitchen, pouring lemonade into them. Kate brushed past him, snagging a jar of raspberry jelly from the door of the fridge before he could shut it. He leaned on the counter, watching as she cut the sandwiches in neat halves, taking plates down and putting the PB&J sandwiches on them. He could have sworn there was a tiny, barely-there smile on her face under the annoyed exterior she was trying to keep up.

They ate on the couch, Angela and Joseph sneaking around behind their spouses' backs while Marguerite fought for her life in a hospital room. Castle hadn't seen too many of the soap opera episodes – his mother had done a few back when she was getting into the business – and they were hard to keep up with. He had no idea how all of these characters were connected through the outrageous plots, but Kate was enthralled with the over-the-top theatrics on screen. She had gone from sitting back against the arm of the couch, still careful of her head, to on the edge, her feet crossed under her body, watching the actors. The plate with half of the sandwich was balanced between her knees, forgotten.

When the end credits for the fifth episode they had watched in a row rolled, Kate finally started in on the second half of her sandwich, looking over at Castle when he didn't speak. "You're done already?"

"Well, you did just sort of have a mini-marathon of a soap opera. I finished eating a while ago."

"Shoot!" She got up, catching the plate before it hit the ground. "What time is it? I need to get Al."

Castle grabbed her wrist to stop her from running toward the door with the sandwich in her hand. "Hey. I'll pick her up." She started to pull away but he tugged her back so she plopped onto the couch. The glare didn't stop him. "It's not a problem. You just sit here and watch your stories."

"Saying they're 'my stories' makes me sound old," she muttered, biting into the sandwich to avoid looking at him as he shrugged his coat on.

"But we both know you aren't. You're a sparkling specimen of a young woman." He tweaked her ear before moving to the door.

"Wait." Kate turned around on the couch to face him. "You know where to meet her, right? By the fence for the playground. That's where she'll be looking for me."

He smiled, warm and kind and genuine. Completely the essence of himself. "I got it. Trust me."

On the way down the stairs, he called up the car service that the publishing house provided and had one of the town cars sent to Kate's building. Al would get a kick out of riding around the city in the chauffeured car, even if it was just from her school to home.

Castle told the driver to wait when he parked across from the school and got out to stand near the meeting spot the Becketts used. He got a few glances from parents and he wasn't sure if they were recognizing him from writing or just confused at the lack of Kate there.

"Rick!"

Al barreled into him a moment after he bent down to let her hug him. He had to shift backwards as she hit him, wrapping her arms around his neck. "Hey there, missy."

She didn't let go of him when he straightened, so he boosted her up on his side, an arm around her waist as he walked toward the car. "Where's Mom?"

"Back home. She got a boo-boo at work and is spending the day watching those silly shows of hers."

"The Lane ones?" Al asked, her eyes scanning for her mother's familiar blue Crown Vic.

Castle nodded. "Those." When the driver saw him, he jumped out, opening the back door of the town car. "Thanks, Ron."

"We're driving in a limo?"

He looked over at Al as she squirmed down out of his arms to stare at the black car. "You bet. Get in and we can brag to Mom about the limo ride."

Al needed no further prompting. She smiled up at Ron before climbing into the backseat . It was a normal car from the back, minus the soft leather seats and extra leg room. But as he watched Al's reaction, Castle could have sworn it was like she was transported to a different world. He had to lean over and buckle the seatbelt for her since she was busy gazing around the interior.

"Hey, Al?" he asked once Ron started out into the light traffic around the school. Castle waited until Al's eyes settled on him before continuing. "I've got a question for you."

"Okay." She swung her legs out, letting them fall back against the seat.

Now he was nervous. She kept those bright blue eyes on his, tilting her head a little to the side in confusion when he didn't speak for a minute. He barely avoided twisting his hands together. "What would you say if I said I wanted to go out with your mom?"

"Like, out where?"

"Dinner?" It came out like a question. He started to wonder if asking Al's permission was a bad idea. What if she said no? What if she said yes but then Kate said no? Should he have just asked Kate and not bothered with Al? But that didn't seem right; the girl had the same stake in any possible relationship as Kate did.

Al interrupted his thoughts by placing a hand on his forearm. "Sure."

"Really?"

The girl laughed, patting his arm. "Yeah." Then she lit up, giving his arm a shake. "Hey! Bring Mom in the limo! She's never been in a limo."

He ran his hand over her hair until she batted him away. "We'll see." Then he turned the conversation to things that didn't have him sweating over a girl's 'yes' or 'no' answer. They talked about school, about this annoying boy who sat next to her and tried to copy her answers. Castle tried, futilely, to defend the boy, something about sticking up for the other boys, but Al fixed him with a glare that she had to have learned from watching her mother shoot the same look at people.

When the stopped outside of Kate's building, Castle snagged Al's jacket before she could bound out of the car. "No word of this to Mom, okay? Our secret?"

"Duh," Al said as she got out. She thanked Ron for driving her in the limo before going to wait at the front door.

The apartment door was unlocked when Al tried the knob after the ride up in the elevator. Kate was still on the couch, stretched out along the entire length with her head on the arm. Al dropped her backpack inside the doorway and ran to jump up on Kate's midsection, pressing kisses to her mother's cheek.

"You okay, Mom?" she asked, sitting on Kate's waist, the end of one braid in either hand. Kate glanced over at Castle who just shrugged. "Rick told me you got a boo-boo."

Kate sat up, bringing her knees up to cradle Al in her lap. "I'm fine. Just a little cut." She placed a kiss on Al's nose. "You're stuck with me for a good long time, kid."

"Mom! We got to drive in a limo!"

Castle held his hands up defensively when Kate looked over, arching a brow. "Just a town car, not a stretch limo. It was easier than trying to hail a cab."

"It was fun!" Al stated firmly, sliding off her mother's waist and onto the ground. She watched the scene in the living room happening on Temptation Lane for a minute before sighing, shaking her head. Castle refused to laugh at the hint of disapproval in the girl's exhale. "Rick, are you staying for dinner?"

This time, he looked to Kate for guidance. She only shrugged, sitting up on the couch now that Al was off of her. Then Castle shook his head. "I'm going to head home and eat with Mother. She has the night off from rehearsals and I'm sure she'll have stories to tell me." Al looked sad at the turn of events, biting her lip in an attempt not to whine. So he walked over and scooped her up, spinning her around twice before setting her back on the ground. "Don't you worry, Al. I'll be back."

Al grabbed him up in another hug around his thighs, pressing her nose into the jeans. "Miss you already."

Kate was surprised when he looked over at her, squeezing Al's head gently against his leg. "Same goes, kid."

He closed the door behind him, pausing a moment in the hallway to let his head fall against the wall. He could hear Kate asking Al about school through the door, heard Al recount the tale of the boy copying off her math homework. The sound of their voices layered on top of the sound of his heart beating in his ears. Then he pushed away, going down the stairs, and opening the door to the car before Ron could grab it. He spent the short drive across the island on his phone, searching for restaurants.

He was still looking when he unlocked his door and stepped in. It was quiet, eerily so. Normally Martha would be at the piano or playing music from the iPod dock and stereo system or clanging around in the kitchen. None of that was going on right now.

"Mother?" he called, toeing off his shoes and hanging his jacket up in the closet just inside the loft.

Nothing.

He hummed in confusion, peeking into the kitchen and living room. The piano was covered, the stove off, and most of the lights dimmed. But even in the low lighting, he saw the note on the kitchen island. She was invited out to a small cast party and would be back later in the evening, told him not to wait up for her.

Part of him wanted to go back to Kate and Al, have dinner with them. But he really did need to get some writing done and perhaps a night alone with his laptop would be the right decision in this case. He still had some time before dinner so he grabbed his computer, the notebook he had been taking notes in while at the precinct, and his phone.

Once he was sprawled out on his couch, the last thing he wanted to do was write, no matter how tempting his subject was. Instead, he continued looking for the perfect place for dinner with Kate. Every choice seemed too expensive, too cheap, too formal, too casual. Others held memories of dates with Meredith, ones he didn't want tainting this could-be relationship with Kate.

"Later," he muttered to himself, minimizing the search window and pulling up the document with the chapter he had been working on for the past few days. "You can look for a restaurant later. Fictional version of her first."

As difficult as writing some of the case details was, the knowledge that once he finished this chapter he could look for a date location was enough to keep him going.


	26. Chapter 26

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>It had been a pretty good week. A fantastic week, if he wanted to be truly honest with himself. All uphill after asking a five year old for permission to date her mother. That in itself was a new one for him. None of his past girlfriends, even the potential ones, had a pre-school-aged body guard he had to get through.<p>

But with Kate, he was more than happy to talk to Al. Both of the Becketts were charming, sweet when they finally opened up, and independent to the point of stubbornness. Al had obviously inherited Kate's personality. But how much of her father, the absent man in their lives, did Al have in her? Another mystery that Castle was determined to solve by the end of the night.

That was, if Kate said yes.

The thought that she would turn down his offer to spend the night alone with him was terrifying.

And that was partially the reason he was hiding. No, not hiding, he told himself. Working. His real job.

Because in his book, he could make sure that the fictional version of Kate definitely said 'yes' to the fictional version of himself. Kate might murder him and get away with it if she read the scene he had just written out but since Castle hoped that, by the time this first book was published, he and Kate were together, he might be able to talk his way out of losing his life.

His phone rang, across the room so that he wouldn't be distracted by the latest update of Temple Run. Her ringtone. He got up, taking the distance from his desk in the study to the kitchen counter in half the steps.

_You alive?_

He slid onto one of the barstools at the island, grinning at his phone. _Barely. Miss me yet?_

Her text had come at the perfect time. He needed a break from staring at the page, hoping that the scene in his head would translate to words. Nikki Heat, oh she was going to kill him over that name for sure, and Jameson Rook were basking in an afterglow but he had no idea where he was going after that moment.

_Miss Al more than you. At least she helps with the chores._

Ah. The paperwork he was missing out on.

Wait. Chores. Al would be at home and that wouldn't work for tonight. He needed Kate alone for their date. He adored the girl but he wanted Kate alone for the night. No buffer.

He put his chin on his palm, blinking at the fridge. "How do I get you alone?" he hummed along to the Heart song, turning his phone in his free hand. Then he typed out a response, telling Kate that he'd be coming in to the precinct in thirty minutes to help with her chores, that he was just finishing up this last scene.

Then he called up a number he had saved in his phone a month ago without Kate knowing.

"Hello?"

Castle stood up, needing to have this conversation upright. "Hello, Mr. Beckett. This is Rick Castle."

* * *

><p>She had been staring at the form for the past two hours. The most she had written was her name and the boys were giving her concerned looks from their desks. So out of boredom, she had texted Castle. He had told her he was going to be writing all day to stop his publisher from breathing down his neck but she couldn't help herself.<p>

When he said he'd be coming in, Kate barely contained a dance of victory. Only thirty minutes to survive before the cavalry arrived.

* * *

><p>They had a plan. Jim was going to pick Al up from school and Castle would make sure that Kate didn't leave to get her daughter. As long as Kate said 'yes,' they'd be alone for the night. Last hurdle to jump over and all he could do was cross his fingers and hope.<p>

Peters was reading when Castle walked into the precinct, a little later than he had predicted thanks to a car accident on FDR Drive. The other man tried to hide the book he had been scanning.

"What do you have there, Peters?" he asked, leaning his forearms on the desk.

"Uh, nothing."

Castle reached over and flipped the book over, ignoring Peters's attempts to knock his hands out of the way. "Classic choice. You know, I could sign that for you," he said, tapping his finger on the cover of the second Derrick Storm novel. "Wouldn't be a big deal."

The man tugged the book closer to him, shaking his head. "No. That's okay, Castle."

"If you're sure." Castle went up the stairs after the glance at the crowd around the elevator. No need in squishing in with another ten people just to go up four flights of stairs.

Ryan and Esposito were at their desks. When he got closer, Castle found that they were arguing over the best Chinese place in the city. Neither noticed Castle's presence, wrapped up in debating where the better egg rolls were made. So he looked into the break room, the conference room, observation for a sign of Kate. Nothing.

"Guys, have you seen Beckett?" he asked, interrupting the two.

"Just missed her," Esposito responded, not looking over at the writer as he glared at his partner. "Went to talk to Lanie for a while."

Ryan did break eye-contact to nod toward Kate's desk. "She did leave you some paperwork to finish."

"Yeah, right." Paperwork had been fun for the first week. A glimpse into the life of a real detective, not a fictional one that spent every hour of their day either running down leads or playing hardball with a suspect or in the middle of a gun battle. In a weird way, paperwork had given him a chance to get to know Kate as a cop. But now, now paperwork was boring to the point where he was ready to gouge his own eyes out a la Oedipus Rex.

Still, Castle went and sat in her chair, flipping through the files she had left on the keyboard with a Post-It telling him how to fill out each form. He plucked a pen from her mug of writing utensils and wrote a quick "Ha ha!" under the instructions, then piled the folders to the side.

This was not how he expected the afternoon to go. Now he had to sit around and wait for her to get back before he could ask her about tonight. He could already feel the anxiety eating away at his resolve.

* * *

><p>It had been almost an hour and her shadow hadn't appeared yet. Someone needed to pull a Wendy Darling on them, sew Castle to her side so that he'd be on time.<p>

"Ryan, Esposito," she called, swinging her jacket on and grabbing her keys. "Gonna go see Lanie. Tell Castle if he finally decides to show up."

So now, she was sitting on the corner of Lanie's desk listening to her best friend yell at her for not bringing Al or Castle around the morgue more often. Kate regretted leaving her paperwork.

"Sweetie, I hardly ever get to see either of them. I mean, when was the last time I spent any length of time with Al?" Lanie asked, taking away the bowl of Skittles that Kate had been dipping her hand into every few seconds. "And what are you doing with that writer of yours, Beckett?"

Kate frowned, reaching for the candy but Lanie kept it out of reach. "Lanie, he's just following me. Nothing more."

The medical examiner looked thoroughly unconvinced. "Following you? You sure that's all?"

"What would make you think it's anything more than him doing research?"

"I don't know, girl. Maybe the fact that he's babysitting Al sometimes, bringing her to the zoo, taking you home after you get hurt interrogating a guy Esposito tells me was twice your size. That's more than research, Katherine Beckett."

Kate sighed. When you put it like that… "Okay, so maybe we're friends."

"Friends?"

She kicked Lanie's thigh, shaking her head. "I don't know, Lanie. He was being all cryptic the other day about a date after I joked about being alone with him in the apartment. I mean, what do I say to that?"

"The right answer would be 'yes'."

"Say ' yes' to a date with Richard Castle?" Kate asked, sliding off the desk to pace around the empty autopsy tables. She resisted the urge to twist her hands together, keeping them at her side. "That's not… Lanie, I don't date celebrities."

Lanie shook her head. For all her smarts, Kate could certainly be incredibly stupid sometimes. "But that's not how you know him, Beckett. To you, he's just Rick. The nice guy you met at a coffee shop, became friends with, and charmed his way into the lives of you and Al."

"I'm leaving now." Kate gathered up her coat, half-heartedly glaring at her friend. "Because you're making too much sense and I don't like that."

The parting words from Lanie were "Say 'yes' to the man, Beckett!" as Kate left the autopsy room.

But the entire ride from the medical examiner's office to the precinct had Kate reaching the same conclusion that Lanie had pointed out to her. Castle was a friend, a good friend, and one that accepted Al as part of the deal. She had tried dating a few times but as soon as the topic of her daughter came up, most of the men ran in the opposite direction. This one, though, was the exception. Somehow, and Kate still wasn't sure how, he had wormed his way in. All without Kate noticing.

Which was why when she stepped out of the elevator and found him sitting in her chair, poking through the drawers of her desk, Kate didn't immediately tear his head off.

"Castle, get out of there," she said, sidetracking over to the break room to get coffee. She knew he wouldn't have done the paperwork she left there for him and she'd need the energy from caffeine to get through the rest of them.

Her mug was already on the counter next to a full pot of coffee. As she lifted the pot to pour the liquid into the cup, she caught sight of a scrap of paper, bright orange that told her it was from her pad of Post-Its.

His scrawl, not polished like Kate thought it would always be after years of signing books, was across the surface.

_Dinner tonight with me?_

Kate looked up, saw him glancing over at the break room window every two seconds, and smiled. Either Lanie was a mind-reader or she was in on the plan. She pocketed the Post-It, poured the coffee into two mugs, and went back to her desk.

He didn't speak at first and she gave him credit for holding in the excitement and apprehension she was sure he was feeling. Not even when she nudged the mug of coffee toward him with a grin. "What time are you picking Al and me up?"

Castle sat up straight, his blue eyes wide. "Uh, not Al. Just you. And six."

"Just me?" Kate asked, running a finger over the handle of the mug, her short fingernail tapping on the ceramic. "And just where is my daughter going to spend the night?"

He placed a hand over the one on her mug, giving it a squeeze, and drawing her eyes up to his. "Trust me. And be ready. Casual dress code."

"Okay." She tightened her hand on his for a moment, then tugged it away. "But first you need to help me finish this paperwork or there won't be a dinner for either of us tonight."

"Fair trade." Castle grabbed the stack of files, opened the first one, and waited for her to read off what she needed from him to fill in the report.

Never had he been more thankful for the tedium; it hid the suddenly overwhelming fear of screwing this up nicely.


	27. Chapter 27

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>Her hair was drip-drying down her back, the droplets running under the towel she had wrapped around her. Half of her clothes were tossed onto her bed, her shoes were spilling out of the closet, and she only had another hour to figure out what the wear or the dark green terrycloth towel would be her outfit for the night. Maybe adding a scarf would class it up enough to count, she thought as she sat on the edge of the bed. Her first idea of jeans and a top she hadn't worn in years was next to her and she ran a finger over the silk of the shirt.<p>

The apartment seemed so empty when she had gotten back after work. No daughter telling a long story to extend her snack time into the time dedicated to getting her homework done. Just Kate, who had needed to turn on music to fill the quiet. She had a moment of realization that this could have been her life. Come back from work to a vacant apartment, make dinner alone, go to bed without having to get up to bring Al to school. The thought her world might have existed without Al in it depressed her.

Kate leaned over the bed to the bedside table, grabbing up her phone to call Lanie. "I don't know what to wear."

"Clothing that can be taken off easily," responded the other woman.

"Lanie…"

She picked up on the warning in Kate's voice. "Okay. Where's he bringing you?"

"I don't know. He just said casual."

"You don't know? You didn't interrogate him over the location of this date?" Lanie laughed and Kate only glared at the phone as she got up to push around the few pieces of clothing still in the closet. "You surprise me."

"Are you going to help me or not?" Kate asked sharply, leaning against the closet door.

"Jeans and a nice shirt, Kate."

Kate looked over at that first outfit, nodding. "Okay. Thanks."

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do, girl!" said Lanie before Kate hung up.

She got up, shaking her hair out so some of the excess water dripped off, and started digging in her drawers for underwear. With the towel still around her, Kate blew her hair dry, not bothering to do anything intricate with it. It fell forward as she put on light make-up, just mascara and eyeliner and a pale pink lipstick that she dug from the bottom of the make-up bag.

The skinny jeans she wiggled into hadn't been worn for a long while and Kate was surprised they still fit. She adjusted the vee shaped neckline of the kimono-style top, plum with hand-painted metallic gold dots sprinkled over the fabric before crossing her legs on the bed with the small jewelry box in her lap. She didn't have much but she did manage to find a long gold necklace of large ovals that would work for the night.

Kate was pushing aside shoes to find the match to the black heel in her hand when someone knocked on the door. She stopped herself from running to answer it, the shoe still dangling from her fingers as she opened it.

"Hey," she said, nervously tucking her hair behind her ear. "Come in."

"You look beautiful, Kate" He snagged the single shoe from her hand, waving it in front of her. "But you know you'll need two of these, right?"

"Working on it." She gestured toward the couch. "Give me a minute to find its partner and then you can bring me to the mystery location."

Castle kept talking as Kate went back to search for the matching shoe. "So you haven't used those mad detective skills to figure out where I'm taking you?"

She found the other half of the pair of shoes, ducked into the bathroom to check her hair one last time, then went back out into the living room. Castle hadn't sat on the couch and was instead wandering the kitchen, tapping the heel of the shoe against his thigh. "Maybe I like being surprised sometimes, Rick."

"Good to know," he said, handing her the heel and letting her use his shoulder to steady herself as she slipped them on. "You ready?"

He took the coat she pulled down from the closet and held it out so she could slide her arms into the sleeves. "Sweep me off my feet."

They walked down the stairs after she locked her front door. As soon as they hit the sidewalk, Kate caught the glimpse of the town car, the same one that Al had raved about riding in.

"Really?" she asked, raising a brow as she looked between the car and the man next to her.

"I could have gotten the actual limo if you wanted, but I figured you'd want a subtler ride this time around."

The driver opened the door for the two of them and Castle let Kate get in first. The car had just pulled out into traffic when Castle gave her a gentle poke on the arm.

"What?"

He spun his finger in a circle. "Turn." She only blinked, studying his face for a hint of why he would want her to turn around. "Just trust me, okay?"

So she twisted in the seat, looking out the window as they passed by building. Then it all disappeared. "Rick, what're you doing?" She reached up to find out why her vision had suddenly gone black and he swatted her hand away.

"Surprising you."

After a twenty minute ride of stop and go traffic, the car stopped and she heard the door open. "Out we go, Kate," he said, giving her hand a tug toward the sidewalk. He lifted his hand when he told her about the step up onto the curb.

"Can I take the blindfold off?" She tried to feel for the knot of the fabric at the back of her head and Castle grabbed both of her hands.

"No. Just a few more minutes then you can have your sight back." He was careful with guiding her toward the door of the correct building, a hand on her lower back.

The smell of coffee hit her as soon as the door opened. Kate couldn't stop the smile from creeping onto her face.

"Are we where I think we are?" she asked, turning toward him as he circled from behind her to in front.

"If you think we're at a coffee bean plant, the answer is yes."

Kate laughed as she pulled at the thread that hung from the cuff of her sleeve. "How utterly romantic."

He reached both hands around her head and Kate caught the scent of his cologne mixed with the light musk of sweat. Castle unknotted the blindfold and let the soft fabric fall off her eyes.

The coffee shop was empty. Someone had gone around to all of the tables and lit tea candles that flickered onto the ceiling and walls. But the only table with flowers on it was theirs, the one by the window where they had first met.

"Too cheesy?" he asked. When Kate turned from the room and looked back at him. He was nervous. His expression was calm, but the way he was running the blindfold through his hands, wrapping the ends around his fingers, screamed anxiety.

She shook her head, smiling as she unzipped her coat. "It's sweet." Kate draped her jacket over the back of the armchair but he stopped her, pulling the chair out for her. "And a gentleman."

He sat across from her and his shoes bumped hers under the table. "I guess that makes you the officer, right?"

"Funny. So," she said, leaning forward. "What're you feeding me other than coffee?"

"Would you kill me if I said dinner consists of cupcakes?"

Kate shook her head. "What woman in her right mind would say no to cupcakes? Are there chocolate ones?"

"Duh," he responded. "But first we're starting with coffee."

He got up, skirting around the counter of the shop and pulling out two tall mugs. The pot of coffee had been brewed earlier but he had set it on a hot plate to keep it warm. Without asking, he knew to add sugar and milk to her mug but only sugar to his. When she took the first sip from her cup, Castle watched her eyes flutter closed, the corners of her lips turning up into a smile around the ceramic of the mug.

Over that first mug of coffee each, they talked about the case they had just closed thanks to Castle's wild theory which held a sliver of truth. The subject of the book he was writing came up and he managed not to let the budding romance between his main characters slip as he gave her an outline of the case Nikki and Rook were solving just to see if Kate could find out the killer on her own.

And then Kate brought up Al. The girl had been talking about starting to play the piano, begging Kate to find her a teacher.

Now or never, Castle told himself.

"Kate, about Al…" He watched her face fall a little and Castle realized his mistake. People hear about a single mother on a date and abandon ship. The expression of wary distrust that took over the smiling one she wore when she was talking about Al's musicianship had his heart squeezing. But he'd already started so he was determined to push through. "I really like her. A lot."

"But you don't want her." Kate turned her eyes down to look at the coffee left in the mug, turning the cup in her hands and fighting back the tears she felt crawling up her throat. She'd had this conversation more times than she would care to admit to.

"No!" Castle said loudly, taking one of her hands from the mug and holding it between both of his in the middle of the table. "No, that's not it at all, Kate." When Kate tried to take her hand back, he only held on a little harder. "I just was wondering… I mean, I know you said her father wasn't around, but…"

"You want the story." And if she told him the story of how Al came about, she'd have to tell him about her mom and how her dad took Johanna's passing hard. Was that really intelligent, sharing all of this baggage on the first real date with him? But looking over the table at him, completely sincere and sweet with a faltering smile as she took a deep breath, had her convinced. "Can we have cupcakes while I talk?"

He let go of her hand, going back behind the counter to take out a plate of miniature cupcakes covered with clear plastic wrap, and bringing it over to the table. Kate picked out a chocolate one with a pile of frosting on top, licking the extra frosting off her fingers after peeling the wrapper off.

"Twelve years ago," she started, keeping her eyes on his even though she wanted to look anywhere but into those warm blue depths, "my mother was murdered. I was nineteen, on Winter Break from college. It was… It sucked. Really sucked. But my dad had it harder. He crawled into the bottle and didn't come out completely until about three years after Mom died."

Kate broke off a piece of the cupcake, chewing it slowly as she thought about how to word this next part. Not her best night, that was for sure. But he had asked so she'd tell the real story, not a fictional one.

"I transferred from Stanford to NYU to look after Dad. It was a lot for me to handle. I had just made detective, trying to fit in with the others at the precinct and prove myself. Dad was in and out of AA and I was never sure when I'd go visit him if he'd be sober or passed out on the couch." She felt Castle take her hand again, rubbing his thumbs across the thin skin on the back of it. "So one night, I stopped at the bar next to my apartment at the time and got drunk. Very drunk.

"I brought a man up to my place and, well, you know," she said with a little smile. "One thing led to another. I kicked him out the next morning. Never learned his name or where he lived or anything." Kate bit off another piece of the chocolate cupcake then cupped the mug that was still warm from the coffee. "And then, nine months later, there was Al."

"And the man, he never came back?" Castle asked, not letting go of her hand. He could feel the slightest trembling in the muscles and began to run his fingers over the tendons.

Kate shook her head. "No. I don't think I'd want him to come back. Anyway, it's been just Al, my dad, and me since then. Dad cleaned up after Al was born, she has a family from the precinct." She smiled and Castle could see the undertone of sadness in the expression. "Rick, no one has stuck around as long as you have that hasn't been with us from the beginning so you're already ahead of most people. Just… if you're going to leave now, at least say goodbye to Al yourself. You're her friend, one of her only ones, and she deserves to hear it from you." He hadn't spoken, so she glanced up. "What?"

"You think I'm going to leave?" he asked. He hadn't touched any of the cupcakes or his coffee since she started talking.

She shrugged, trying to look nonchalant. "Everyone does, Rick."

"I'm the exception." He removed one of his hands from around hers to tilt her chin up from where she was gazing at her half-eaten cupcake. "I'm not going anywhere."

Kate opened her mouth to protest, saying that all of the men in the past five years had said the same thing, but he placed a finger over her lips.

"I mean it. You're going to be stuck with me for a long while, Kate, so get used to it." Now he did take a cupcake, broke the top off of the bottom and made a sandwich with the cake pieces. "Come on. We can split the rest of the cupcakes between us."

Castle found paper plates in a cabinet, took down a handful to divide up the cupcakes, insisting that Kate take a few more since he was sure Al would want some. He downed the last of their coffee, washing the mugs in the sink before placing them upside down on a towel to dry.

"How did you even get this place to ourselves?" she asked as he locked the coffee shop behind them with a brass key on a piece of ribbon that he took from his pocket.

"Oh, I know people who know people."

The town car had appeared out of nowhere and Castle opened the back door for her again. On the ride back to her apartment, they argued over which plates of cupcakes went with who since Kate wanted the one with more chocolate but that plate also held the red velvet cakes that Castle wanted. She caught the driver smiling and laughing silently at them from the rear view mirror as they traded cupcakes between the plates. Things seemed so normal, as if the conversation about her one-night-stand turned five year old daughter hadn't affected their little relationship. Even if Castle wasn't planning on going anywhere, Kate was suddenly determined not to let him go. The one man that understood and accepted her past wasn't allowed to leave without her fighting for him.

When they got to her building, Castle insisted on walking her up to the apartment. He carried one of the plates of cupcakes she was claiming; the other hand had inched its way around her waist, a gentle weight that didn't try to pull her closer. Just there.

She unlocked the door, kicked her heels off toward the living room, and turned to take the cupcakes from him to put on the counter. He had already put the plate he carried on the polished surface, moving back toward the open door. Kate placed her plate next to his, taking off her coat to toss it over the back of the couch.

"Rick, tonight was great," she said, her bare toes curling against the wood in the hallway.

"Just great?"

His grin had her smiling as well. "Fantastic. Wonderful. Amazing." She kept adding adjectives as he waved his hand, urging her to continue. "Magical."

"Better." When he stepped forward, careful of her bare feet, Kate didn't take a corresponding step back.

He gave her a moment to move away before he ducked his head down. One hand cupped her cheek, the other rested on her upper arm. Again, not pulling her closer, just present. Castle slowly brushed his lips over hers, once, twice.

Kate could taste the sweetness of the sugar from their dinner of desserts as kissed her gently.

Then he let her go, moving back so he was in the hallway. "Goodnight, Kate. Until tomorrow."

When Castle closed the door behind him, the last thing he saw was Kate's lingering smile as she watched him leave.

The apartment was still quiet so Kate could only assume Castle had somehow contacted her father and Al was over there for the night. She changed out of the jeans and shirt and into ratty leggings and a tanktop, curling up under her blankets.

For the first time in over five years, she truly felt that a date had gone well.

Thank goodness it was with him, she thought as she faded into sleep.


	28. Chapter 28

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>"Richard, you are in an uncharacteristically good mood," Martha declared as she came down from the second floor of the loft. Her robe that morning was subtle for her, dark red with silver and black accents that swirled as she waved her arms.<p>

Castle poured her a cup of coffee, sliding it over the countertop in her direction. "I don't know what you mean."

Martha sat at one of the bar stools, holding the mug between her hands. Her son was cooking breakfast. A full breakfast. Normally he just made toast, put jam on it, and ate the food with a cup of coffee slurped down as he either ran to get to the precinct or before locking himself in his study to write. But right now, he had bacon in a frying pan, the fat sizzling as he flipped the slices over. Next to it was a plate of eggs, balanced on the stovetop to keep them warm. Toast popped up from the toaster oven.

"You're making breakfast. And humming." She took a sip of the coffee, watching him carefully. "Am I going to need to make myself scarce so that your detective can slip out?"

She had the joy of watching his mouth fall open, then hastily shut before opening again.

"Mother, I… What would make you…"

Martha laughed, snagging a piece of bacon from the plate just as he slid the slices onto the porcelain. "You're a good man, Richard. Plus, that girl has a head on her shoulders. She'd never come home with you after a first date."

He glared a little over the stove but even Martha could see the love in his eyes. She knew that the emotion was not just meant for her, but also came from the current topic of conversation. "I'm glad you still have some faith in my sense of honor."

Castle filled up a plate with the food, placed it in front of her before getting a matching breakfast for himself. Martha forks up some of the eggs, eating them as Castle sat next to her, swirling his coffee. "So the date went well?"

"What am I, a high schooler?" he asked, biting into the toast a little harder than strictly necessary. As he chewed over the slightly-burnt bread, he smiled. "It went really well."

Martha leaned an elbow on the counter, resting her cheek on the heel of her palm, and studied her son. Even with a coffee mug cupped in one hand, a piece of bacon in the other, he looked happier than he had in the longest time. "Would it be cliché and feminine to say that you're glowing?"

"Definitely," he said.

But he sort of agreed with the sentiment at least. Just looking over at the plate of cupcakes from last night and he could feel himself starting to smile all over again. The little cakes were one of the reasons he knew the date had actually happened; without them, he was sure that he'd be thinking the night in the coffee shop, alone, with Kate would have been a wishful dream.

He was jolted out a slideshow of the night when Martha placed a hand on his wrist. "Oh, you're happy."

"Yeah. Mostly."

"Mostly?" Martha nibbled on the end of a bacon slice, a raised brow accenting the question.

Castle sighed, putting the fork down on the edge of the plate and turning to face the woman. "Kate told me about Al. Their story."

"Single mother stories aren't easy to hear. Trust me," Martha said, rubbing his arm gently. "I've been there."

"It's more than that." Castle stood, cradling the coffee mug against his chest and started to pace the length of the living room. "Her mother was murdered when she was nineteen. Her father fell headfirst into the bottle and she had to try and keep him afloat. And the one night," he said, turning to face his mother, "the single night she lets all of it go, she gets pregnant. How is that fair, Mother?"

"I don't know if you've heard this before, Richard, but life usually isn't fair." He groaned, running a hand through his hair even as Martha continued. "From what I've seen and what you've told me, Kate doesn't hate Al for being the result of that single night, am I right?"

He shook his head, taking a drink from the mug. "No. Of course she doesn't."

"Then as unfair as it may seem, I think your detective has found the bright side of her life at the moment. That little girl is the light of her existence no matter how she came into the world." Martha calmly bit into a forkful of eggs, smiling at Castle. "Sort of like another unplanned child I know of."

He walked over, wrapped his mother up in a one-armed hug. "You make too much sense for the early hour, you know that?"

"Oh, I'm a woman of many talents."

Castle snagged the last piece of bacon from his plate, munching on it as he checked the time. "Gotta get going. I'm meeting her at the precinct." With the bacon slice between his teeth, he swung the mid-weight coat on. "And Mother? I don't think Kate would like to hear you calling her 'my detective.' I have a feeling she isn't claimed by anyone."

"She'll be good for you, then. Keep you in line." Before his hand turned the knob of the front door, she called out again. "But you're happy with them? With her?"

He smiled, all genuine warmth, even at seven thirty in the morning. "More than ever."

He was gone but Martha nodded to herself, sipping the lukewarm coffee still in her cup. "Good."

* * *

><p>The day at the precinct had been mysteriously quiet. Castle had come in fifteen minutes after she had sat at her desk, smiling gently. No pushing comments about the date the previous night. Just a cup of coffee and a quiet "good morning, Beckett" before he took his usual spot in her visitor's chair. His chair as much as it was Al's. They'd done paperwork together before going out for lunch. Not another date, Kate had told herself over a salad as he cut his burger in half. Just lunch. Then more paperwork while the boys worked their own case.<p>

But when one o'clock rolled around and Kate found that she couldn't stand looking at another D5 form, she said she'd drop Castle off at his place so she could go get Al from school. After he climbed out of the car, he offered to make dinner for them if Kate wanted to come by after getting the girl from school.

"Sorry, but I need a night with my daughter. Just the two of us," she said as he leaned back into the car from his position on the sidewalk. "Haven't seen her in a day since someone conspired with my dad to get her out of my hair last night."

He grinned, sheepish as he shrugged a little. "It was worth it."

"Yes, it was" she responded. "But I want some time with Al. So close my car door so I won't be late to pick her up."

"See you tomorrow, Detective," he parted, shutting the door with a gentle click.

It was a straight drive up the avenue to get to the school but she had been running behind and had seriously considered lighting up the gumball to zip up the street. She didn't, but her foot itched at the pedal. The car screeched to a halt against the curb.

Kate climbed out of the front seat in a half-panic. The rest of the area outside of the school was empty, not crowded with parents and their cars and children running into the street before the adults could grab them. Al wasn't in anywhere in sight.

With her heart slowly inching up into her throat, Kate jerked the door of the school open, running into the little lobby of the building. The office was to her right, the door propped open with a painted rock. The woman at the desk was typing into the old monitor on the surface but looked up when Kate ran in.

"Can I help you?"

Kate braced her hands on the counter over the desk, trying to tamper down the fear still clawing at her. "My daughter, Alexandra Beckett. Where is-"

"Mom!" The girl hit the back of her legs with a little thump.

She turned, bent down, and scooped up Al into her arms. Al wrapped her arms around Kate's neck and Kate buried her nose into Al's soft hair. "Hey, kid."

"Where were you?"

"Rick was holding me up." Kate held onto Al, readjusting her grip so that Al was balanced on her hip. She smiled at the woman at the desk, still watching her like she was crazed. "Thanks."

Al had a grip on some of Kate's hair, twirling the brown strands around her fingers as Kate walked back to the car. "You were late."

"Yeah. Sorry 'bout that, Allie-bug."

The girl let go of her mother's hair as she got into the back seat of the car. Kate took a moment after buckling her own seatbelt, running her hand over the scarred leather of the steering wheel. Al was okay. It was all okay. Al requested the Little Mermaid soundtrack and Kate hummed along as Al sang in the back. She drove slower back to the apartment as her adrenaline rush thinned out.

The apartment was warm when Kate unlocked the door, letting Al bounce into the hallway. "How was your date, Mom?"

Kate stopped, her jacket halfway off her arm. Al was in the fridge, on her tiptoes as she reached for the pitcher of water. When Kate didn't respond, she turned around, balancing herself with the door handle.

"Mom?"

"Uh," Kate shook her head, trying to form coherent thoughts while also trying to pretend the question hadn't been asked. But Al was watching her, expecting an answer, those blue, blue eyes trained on her. "How'd you…?"

"Grandpa told me." She had the pitcher out, holding the plastic between both of her hands. "Can you get me a cup?"

Kate moved, reaching up over Al to take down a cup. She snagged the pitcher from her daughter's hands, pouring the water into the glass and handing it to Al. What Kate wanted more than water was a tumbler of whiskey and ice but she stuck with the same thing Al was currently sipping at.

"So?"

"So what?"

"Where did Rick take you?" Al followed as Kate went to sit on the couch, her legs pulled up to her chest with the glass of water cradled between her breasts. Her daughter crowded her on the couch, her cheek pressed up against Kate's arm. She was studying her mother with eyes that Kate recognized as the ones she got while in an interrogation. No way she was getting out of this without answering some questions.

"Well," Kate started, brushing a hand over Al's hair, "he picked me up. Brought me to our coffee shop." *Our* coffee shop? That was a new one. Kate figured it made sense, really.

"No way." Al had forgotten about the water and had taken up staring at Kate in wonder.

Kate tapped the tip of Al's nose with a grin. "Yes way. And we had coffee and cupcakes. Brought some home, as a matter of fact. I was thinking that we could have some after dinner if you helped me make some homemade pizza."

"Yes! Let's go, Mom! Pizza and cupcakes!" Al jumped up off the couch, nearly spilling the water from her cup onto the carpet before righting it. Kate was almost off the couch herself when Al pushed her back down. "Wait."

"Wait for pizza and cupcakes? Who are you and what have you done with my daughter?"

Al grinned, breaking her serious expression for a moment. "Did he kiss you goodnight?"

Kate debated, quick, keeping her face impassive just to tease the girl. But Al was starting to bounce on the balls of her feet, fighting to keep a smile off her face. "Yes."

"Aahhhh!" Al squealed, finally giving in and leaping up into the air. The water splashed over the rim of the glass and onto both Kate and Al. "I knew it! I knew it!" Ignoring the water on her shirt, Al leaned over and pressed a kiss to Kate's cheek. "Oh, Mom. He's good." She skirted around the couch into the kitchen to dab at the damp shirt with a dish towel. "Glad I said he could date you."

"You what?"


	29. Chapter 29

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>Kate wasn't sure how she made it through dinner. She made stovetop mac-and-cheese, something that required minimal thought. As they sat on the couch, large ceramic bowls warming their laps, Al explained between mouthfuls of macaroni shaped like Disney princesses.<p>

"He picked me up in the limo." Al was concentrating on finding a crown in the bowl, poking around with the rounded tip of her spoon. "He said dinner was a date. I said 'yes'." Little orange tiara found, she looked up. "Was that wrong?"

Was it?

The night in the coffee shop, just her and Castle, had been nice. More than nice. Somehow, in barely three months, this man got her. No bouquets of flowers that would wilt in a week. Not a dinner at a fancy French restaurant with entrees she couldn't pronounce.

Instead, he had honed in on her addiction to caffeine. He somehow had finagled a way to completely empty the coffee shop; how, Kate hadn't quite figured out and she sensed that Castle wouldn't share his sources. Then, as if a first date over coffee wasn't perfectly unique enough, he had gone and decided that dinner would be cupcakes. Close-to-heavenly cupcakes that were still sitting on the counter under Saran wrap on the paper plates from the shop.

"No, kid." Kate brushed her fingertips over Al's cheek. "You said what you thought. That's what's right."

The girl appeared comforted, grinning widely. "Good." Kate had a moment of quiet as she scooped up the mac-and-cheese before "Mom?"

"Yeah?" she asked around the mouthful of pasta and cheese.

"Do you like Rick?"

Oh, the question of the hour. Of the night. No, the year. Kate knew that if she thought about the response, went through the possibilities, she'd be here for a long time. So she answered without thinking. "Yes. I do."

Al wrapped her arms around Kate's torso, her cheek pressed to her mother's stomach. Kate managed to move her bowl before Al's hair dangled into the food. "I like him, too."

They finished up dinner and Kate gathered up their dishes to soak in the sink before washing them out. Al had spent the entire time bouncing on her toes, eyes trained solely on the cupcakes. Kate had promised she could have one if she finished dinner and her homework. The girl had flown through the practice printing her alphabet faster than Kate had ever seen, putting the worksheet into the bright purple folder in her backpack, then taking up her position at the corner of the counter.

Kate had lowered the plate of cupcakes down so that Al could pluck off a chocolate one, not waiting for a plate to catch the crumbs before biting into the cake. Frosting smeared onto Al's nose as she skipped back to the couch to finish eating the dessert. Kate picked out another chocolate cupcake, taking the bottom of the cupcake off and making a sandwich with the frosting.

Once Al had declared the cupcake 'the best in the world,' Kate had insisted that she go to bed. School in the morning and Kate may have promised that they'd go visit Castle after school if she was good.

So now Al was asleep, oblivious to her mother's conflicting emotions regard the previous night. She was in her pajamas, knees drawn up to her chest with her phone resting on the bedspread by her toes. Before she could just curl up under the blankets and forget about Al's admission.

But she couldn't.

Kate leaned forward and picked up the phone, scrolled through the contacts, and hit the call button.

"What?"

Lanie didn't sound happy. A glance at the clock explained that. Her friend had been working a double shift and was probably just getting to sleep. Kate needed her though; it was an emergency.

"He asked her for permission."

"You're going to need to give me some context here, sweetie. It's late. I'm tired."

Kate sighed, letting her forehead rest on her kneecaps. "Castle. He asked Al for permission to take me out to dinner."

That woke Lanie up. "He what?"

"Pretty much my reaction as well," she muttered. "I mean, what do I do with that?"

"You give your daughter a hug and then buy her a pony." As if Lanie could sense the glare Kate was shooting through the phone. "That's sweet, is what that is. The fact he had the thought to ask Al if he could take you out, that's something no one else has done."

That much was true. "But that's because there hasn't been anyone else…"

"Exactly. So that he went out of his way to ask the only other person you would have thought of if this goes any further is an indication that he could be-"

"Don't say 'the one' like it's a mythical being," Kate sighed, pulling a chunk of her hair in front of her eyes to search for dead ends. The thought that there was a single person for her scared her. The thought that Richard Castle was her 'one' was absolutely terrifying.

"Alright, alright. So tell me about the date," Lanie said. She still sounded tired but Kate was sure that the excitement of getting the juicy details of her night out would keep her up for the next few minutes.

Kate smiled, stretching out so that her head was at the wrong end of the bed, her chin resting in one of her hands. The heels of her feet swung arcs in the air, hitting her thighs every few times. God, just like a high schooler again. But she didn't shift because the emotion was the same as it had been as a high school student. "He picked me up in a town car."

"A limo?"

"What are you? Al? No, just a black car. Do you want me to tell this story or not?" Lanie was silent. "Good. So, he picked me up. Once we were in the car, he blindfolded me, said that the location was a surprise and he didn't want me to cheat." Kate paused, waiting for a comment from her friend but Lanie obviously had learned her lesson about keeping quiet. "Lanie, he brought me to our coffee shop."

"Marry him."

Kate sat up, nearly falling off the bed but catching herself on the comforter. The phone tumbled out of her hand, clattering to the floor. She let Lanie call out her name as she took deep breaths. Marry Castle? After a single date and three months of knowing the man and Lanie was suggesting that she hit the aisle right now? The idea of marriage never scared her until now. Breathing steadier, she fumbled under the bed for her phone, brought it back up to her ear.

"You going to get the marriage license or are you still there, girl?"

"No, I'm here. Anyway," she said, drawing the word out, hoping that Lanie would forget about the earlier mention of weddings, "he had someone gotten the entire shop to himself for the night. We had coffee and cupcakes."

"Cupcakes? Oh, Kate, he's a keeper. Hold onto him." Lanie yawned and Kate could hear her jaw crack. "Listen, sweetie, I need to sleep but answer me one more question. Kiss goodnight?"

"Yes," she said on a gentle exhale. If she closed her eyes, Kate could almost feel his lips on hers again, a quiet ghost lingering on the skin. "Good night, Lanie."

Kate heard Lanie's mumbled response before she hung up. She flopped back onto the pillows, a smile crossing her face briefly before she started over-thinking. Typical move on her part.

Did Lanie have a point? She hadn't gone on a date since Al was born; she hadn't had time while raising a newborn on her own and after the incident that had lead to little Al, Kate had secured her heart behind a few walls reinforced with steel beams. But Castle was different. He hadn't pushed, hadn't tried to get past those barriers.

He just did. And only after three months. Ninety days.

What really scared Kate was that she didn't think she wanted him back on the other side of those walls.


	30. Chapter 30

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>Kate was fairly certain that she lost her sense of hearing when Al saw her waiting outside the school. Because as soon as the girl's eyes turned from talking with Maria as they exited the front doors to the playground fence that Kate was leaning against, she screamed. Maria looked a little concerned as her friend bolted away from her side, barreling down the sidewalk toward Kate. Al tripped, caught herself, then wrapped her arms around a pair of legs.<p>

"Hey, Al," Castle said, teasing the end of Al's ponytail with his fingertips as he brushed his hand over her head. He caught Kate's smile out of the corner of his eye as he lifted his head from looking at the girl attached to his knees.

Then Kate pushed up off the chain-link fence, held her hands out to the side. "So now I'm chopped liver?"

Al released Castle's legs and let Kate lean down to pick her up in a hug. "Hi, Mom. You brought Rick," she murmured into her mother's ear.

"Surprise," Kate said back, setting Al back on the ground.

Al kept hold of one of Kate's hands, grabbing one of Castle's in the other. This time, it was Kate who glanced over at Castle who shrugged. The three of them, Al swinging her arms between the two adults, walked back to where Kate had parked the Crown Vic. March was coming to an end and the weather was finally warming up a little. She hadn't left the car running with the heat on so the car was chilly as they settled in.

"We going home?" asked Al from the backseat as Kate turned around to make sure the girl buckled her seatbelt.

"Nope." Kate secured her own belt, turned down the police radio on the dash, turned up the soft rock music on the FM radio, and pulled out into the traffic of after-school pick-up.

Al kicked her heels against the seat, looking in the rear view mirror at her mother. "Where're we goin'?"

"My place," Castle said, shifting so he could look back at the girl as her face blossomed into an expression of pure joy.

"Really? Mom, really?"

"Why would Rick lie to you, kid?"

Al pouted, but only a little since she was still wearing that completely over-the-moon smile. "He wouldn't."

"Right. We'll hang out with him until it's time to go home for bed."

Another scream of excitement echoed in the car before Kate turned to shoot a look at her daughter. "Sorry, Mom. I'm happy."

Castle braced his hand on Kate's headrest, winking back at Al. "Kate, can I scream, too?" When he got the same expression, he frowned. "What? I'm happy, too!"

"I'm surrounded by five year olds," she muttered.

The music filled the car for a moment before Al spoke again. "Hey! I'm five!" she said, holding up her hand, fingers splayed open.

* * *

><p>They were in the middle of a cut-throat game of Candy Land when her phone rang from its spot on the dining room table. As Kate got to her feet, she saw Castle lean closer to Al, whispering into her ear.<p>

"No collusion allowed, you two," she warned, going to get her phone.

"What does 'collusion' mean?" Al asked, her tongue working around the strange word slowly, glancing between the adults.

Kate heard the start of Castle giving Al the wrong definition of the word, saying it meant working separately and that they should form a team to take Kate down, before she answered the call. "Hello?"

"Hey, Katie."

Al let out a scream and Kate turned in time to see Castle trying to steal her cards. Not trouble, just the forty year old teasing the five year old. "Hey, Dad."

"Bad time? Because I can call you later when she's asleep." Jim had to be grinning with that tone of voice.

Kate paced into the kitchen, trying to find quiet even as Al clamored over the pillows, still on the ground from an earlier pillow fight, to grab the cards from Castle's hand. "No, we're over Rick's until bedtime. What's up?" she asked, plugging her free ear with her pointer finger, barely muting the fight going down in the living room.

When she looked over to the battleground, Castle was signaling to her. In the midst of becoming a human rock wall for Al to climb on, he was jerking his thumb toward the room behind him.

"Hold on, Dad," Kate said, interrupting the beginning of a work story. She navigated around the half-standing pillow and blanket fort to Castle's side, avoiding Al's flailing arms, and ducked her head down next to his.

"Use the study. It'll be quieter." When Kate mouthed "Thanks" and started to move toward the room, Castle caught her wrist. "And Kate? No snooping."

The fact that his eyes danced when he spoke proved that he perhaps didn't truly mind if curiosity got the best of her. So Kate reclaimed her hand, smiled cheekily right back at him, and went to open the red-stained door.

She flicked on the light just inside the door, sliding the dimmer up so she could make out the furniture. A desk, cluttered with open books piled precariously atop one another. There was a television in a corner, a wide sofa angled to face the screen. Right now, it was partially obscured by a rolling SmartBoard. A model boat had sails that fluttered in the air conditioning. The large framed photo of what appeared to be a staircase was on the opposite wall and Kate wondered if there was a story behind the image.

The entire area was masculine without shouting it. Subtle, all subtext, as if Castle himself had written the room into existence.

"Quieter now. Did you kill my granddaughter?"

Her dad's voice brought her back to the real reason she was in Castle's study. "Oh, no. Just cut her tongue out. Silence is golden. Restart the story, Dad."

As Jim chattered about his secretary, something to do with ordering the wrong food for lunch that day, Kate wandered the room. She flipped through the pages of one of the books on the desk, finding that it was about real estate. Sort of boring but that just intrigued her more. How did real estate fit into the new story, the one about her. No, not her, Kate corrected herself, walking over to the window in the office to look down at the street. A character based on her.

"Katie? You still there?"

"Oh, yeah," she said, still off in her thoughts. Really, she was wondering where he might be hiding an outline or something of this character so she could get some details, things to catch before he published the book. "Yeah, I'm here."

He laughed and Kate could see him shaking his head. "Tell me about your date."

Kate sat on the couch, tucking her feet up on the cushions in front of her butt, cuddling into the corner of the sofa. "Where do I start?"

* * *

><p>He'd seen how Kate was searching for somewhere a little quieter than the living room, so of course he had pointed her to his study. With the door closed, it would be marginally better than standing in the kitchen with a finger in her ear to block out Al's excited squeals. Kate had looked relieved, not only for the chance to talk to whoever was on the other end of the phone and for the few moments of calm.<p>

"Rick, we gonna play?" Al asked, giving his sleeve a tug.

"Doesn't seem fair with Mom on the phone, does it?" he responded, pushing himself up off the floor. A quick survey of the damage to his living room had him grinning. Having a child running around the loft had felt… right.

The entire afternoon had been so strangely normal for them. Picking Al up at school, making snacks in the kitchen before creating a fort out of pillows from every room in the place and a collection of blankets from the linen closet. The three of them had sat around inside their little fort, Al between Castle and Kate, giggling over nothing. Then a 'dragon' had attacked, causing the fort to fall down. Kate had kept her mouth shut when she saw Castle push down the supporting couch cushion before tackling the two women to protect them. And he had pretended not to notice how Kate's breathing quickened when he had his head next to hers and whispered about protecting the ladies fair, his body so close to hers that she had shivered a little.

Then Al had insisted on playing a game. Kate had brought over some of their board games from her place to have in case they visited. When given the option, Al had chosen Candy Land over Hi! Ho! Cherry-O!, insisting on setting up the board.

"You're right," Al sighed, sitting back against the couch, pushing at her hair that had long fallen out of her ponytail. "I guess we can wait."

He went toward the kitchen, kicking aside a throw pillow as he went. "You want something to drink, kid?"

"Juice, please!"

Castle found the container of apple juice in the back of the fridge, poured some into her plastic cup. When he handed it to the girl, he could see that she was getting tired. Her eyes were drifting shut, then snapping back open. He wished he had a cover for the cup so if it did tumble from her hand, it wouldn't spill over the carpet. "Let's see if Mom wants something to drink."

"M'kay," Al said, cradling the cup against her chest as she stayed sitting.

He pushed open the door to the study, found that she had only cracked it and not closed it completely. So when he stepped into the office, he heard something that stopped him in the doorway.

"Oh, Dad, I'm so happy. He makes me so happy."

She was sitting on the couch, the one he almost always fell asleep on while watching movies. Even in the dim light, he could see that she had her knees up against her chest, her cheek resting on her kneecaps, looking out the window at the skyline of SoHo. She was facing away from him but he could almost see the corner of her lips turned up in a smile. Instead of doing the right thing and turning back around, letting her talk to her father in private, he leaned a shoulder against the bookshelves that formed the dividing wall, and listened.

"He's so good with Al. We spent the afternoon playing games, building forts, and laughing. It was like we've been doing this forever and not just for the past few months."

Agreed.

Kate shifted, stretching her legs out in front of her, flexing her toes. "No. Yeah. Okay, maybe a little. But wouldn't it scare you?" She sighed, rolled her eyes, then leaned forward to pick at her chipped toenail polish. "No, Dad. I'm not running away from this. I don't need another broken heart on my hands." She paused, pulled her lips into her mouth for a moment. "Of course I meant both of us. Go take Sadie for her walk. I'll give you a call tomorrow night. Night, Dad."

She got up, tucking the phone back in the front pocket of her jeans, and turned. "Oh. Hi."

"Hey," he said, stepping into the study, closing the door a little. "I make you happy?"

Castle saw the blush creep across her cheekbones as she pushed her hands into her back pockets. "You heard that?" He only nodded once, a tiny smile on his face. "Yeah, figured."

He took a step closer, watching her blink in confusion. "So that's a 'yes'? I really make you happy?"

"You do." She swallowed hard, shrugging one shoulder. "You get me, Rick. Like, really get me. I'm not easy to get to know, especially since Al came along, but you did it."

"Do I get a reward?" he asked, moving until her calves hit the arm of the couch. "For 'getting you'?"

To hide the fear that she had told her dad about, Kate smiled up at him. "Aren't I enough?" Wow. That was a little forward for her. And no alcohol to blame it on. So she ducked her head, trying to gather a response that would make sense, a reason for the statement.

But he spoke before she could clear her thoughts. "More than, Kate." Then, before he could stop himself, he placed a knuckle under her chin and turned her face up from the floor. "Way more than," he whispered before kissed her.

Kate wasn't able to hold back the little sigh as she stepped a foot between his, still leaving space between their bodies. The finger he had placed under her jaw came up to cup her cheek, his fingers brushing her hairline. His free arm settled on her waist, giving her the slightest tug forward until their thighs met.

"Rick," she said, not pulling away completely but letting her forehead rest on his cheek. "My daughter's in the other room."

He shifted his head so he could brush his lips across the corner of her mouth. "Mhm." Then he stepped back, his arm sliding down her side until it tangled with her fingers. "Just needed to check something."

"What?"

As he pulled her toward the door to the living room, he rubbed his thumb over hers. "You still scared of this?"

Kate stopped short of the door, could see Al sipping at juice from a cup while pushing the game pieces around on the board. Oblivious to what was going on in the office just feet away. "Rick, I'm completely terrified."

"Good." He spun her so she was pressed against the bookshelf, not trapped but crowded so that the spines of the hardcovers were hitting her vertebrae. And he kissed her again, softly as if he were trying not to scare her off. When he moved back, her breathing was shallow against his cheek. "Because I'm absolutely petrified as well."

He smiled, not cocky but sweet. "Now let's go finish up Candy Land so that you two can get home for bed."

As if the entire night was utterly normal for them.

What Kate felt through their still-linked fingers was that he wanted it to be normal for them. She hoped that he could sense the same thing from her side.

"Al, you ready to beat Mom's butt?" he asked, crossing his legs as he sat down on the floor near the board.

The girl grinned, shifting forward so her knees brushed the game board. She glanced at Kate who had settled with her thigh against Castle's, their hands on his knee. But she didn't comment. Instead she handed over Kate's cards, then picked up her own. "Your turn, Mom. Good luck."

Kate flipped her cards over, then smirked. "Remember who you're going home with, kid."

"Oh, Rick would keep me." Al sound so sure, so happy, that Kate had to hide her smile behind her fanned out cards.

And Castle rubbed his fingertips over the back of Kate's hand on his knee. "You bet I would."

Kate knew he wasn't just referring to Al. The thought simultaneously made her heart flutter and the adrenaline kick into high gear.

Love. This just had to be love.


	31. Chapter 31

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>"You have plans for next Wednesday?"<p>

Kate looked over at him from the murder board, the Expo marker against the side of her nose. Castle was sitting on the edge of her desk, legs crossed in front of him as he studied the board from behind her. "Huh?"

"Next Wednesday. Do you have plans?" he asked again, tilting his head to the side.

She blinked slowly. Her brain was not working a full capacity, not after almost fourteen hours getting absolutely nowhere in this case. "Plans next Wednesday?"

Castle got up, grabbing her coffee mug from her desk, and skirting around her toward the break room. "You need caffeine, stat, because that sentence really was not that confusing."

"Hey, wait!" she said, running behind him into the empty break room, reaching around his arm for the mug. "I don't want more coffee." Kate slapped a hand over the top of the cup before he could pour the liquid in. "I want to be able to get some sleep tonight. No more caffeine."

He leaned his lower back against the counter, shrugging as he crossed his arms. "Fine. So, next Wednesday, I get you and Al to myself."

Kate raised a brow, taking her mug back and cradling it against her chest protectively. "Awfully bold of you, Castle, to think that you can order us around. What's the occasion?" She started back toward her desk, shaking her head to try and wake up. Maybe another half hour of mulling over the board and she could call it a night.

But Castle's hand shot out, blocking her path out of the break room. He only smiled when Kate collided with his forearm, glaring up at him. "You'll say yes when you hear what day it is," he whispered into her ear. And he knew Kate could only blame so much of the shiver on exhaustion.

"What day is it? Other than Wednesday, of course," she returned, turning her head so her nose brushed his jaw.

The arm up against the doorframe fell, trailing down her arm, bare in the short-sleeved shirt. Just as he started to press his cheek against hers, Kate stepped away. But Castle followed until his mouth was against her ear. "My birthday."

This time, she ducked under his arm, grinning. "Oh really? Officially becoming an antique?"

"Oh, that's cruel. I'm not that old," he responded, nipping at her heels. "And how old is an antique, exactly?"

"Fifty." Kate placed her mug back on her desk, swinging her jacket on. The case would be there tomorrow after she got the few hours of sleep between the time she got home and the time she set her alarm for. She already knew her head would be filled with fluff from exhaustion.

He scowled. "I'm not turning fifty. Hey!" he called, jogging after her, catching her wrist. "I'm not turning fifty."

Kate grinned, hitting the button for the elevator. "Oh, I know. Forty-one, right?"

"How'd you know?"

She shrugged, stepping into the car and leaning against the wall. "Might have perused your official file. Caught riding a police horse naked? Really, Castle?"

She couldn't be sure, not in the low lighting of the elevator, but she might have seen a pink blush crawl onto his tanned skin. "You saw that."

"Mhm. Got a story for it?"

"If 'drunk foolishness' doesn't count, then no." He got out of the elevator first, trying to get away from the conversation, but Kate wasn't that easy to give up. She followed, hands in the pockets of her jacket, her little finger in the loop of the handcuff keychain.

"You do that often? Drunk foolishness in public?"

He faltered at the side of the car, looking down at the wheels rather than at Kate from over the roof. "Why do I have the feeling that we should be in the interrogation room?" She didn't answer, getting into the driver's seat and turning the key in the ignition. He joined her, buckling the seat belt as she backed out. "It used to be, Kate. Not anymore. Not since the night Meredith left."

"Listen, Rick. I didn't mean for it to sound like that…" she started, glancing over at him as she headed downtown to drop him off.

"It's fine." He reached over the console and gave her knee a squeeze. "Really. So, are you game for Wednesday?"

Kate let her right hand press onto the back of his. "Yeah. Al and I will be there with bells on."

She had parked against the curb, waving to Eduardo who stood just inside the doors of the building. Castle circled the car, leaning in through the open window.

"Wednesday at six. Casual dress," he said. Then he placed a kiss on her cheek, tracing her jaw with his hand before stepping toward the entrance of his place. "See you then."

* * *

><p>Kate picked Al up at school alone, able to spot the girl as soon as she came out. Al had insisted on getting dressed herself that morning, shoving her mother out of the room.<p>

She bounced over to the car, the bright pink tutu flouncing around her. "Hey, Mom!"

Oh goodness, she was a walking eye sore. The pink tutu was over striped leggings of alternated white and neon blue and purple while her shirt was a sedate grey. But when she had finally emerged from her bedroom, the grand smile on her face had convinced Kate to let the girl go out in public.

"Hey, kid," Kate said, sweeping Al up onto her hip, negotiating the tutu on the walk back to the car. "Ready to go shopping for Rick's present?"

"Where are we going?"

Kate snapped Al into the car seat, tweaking her on the nose. "A jewelry store. To get him a pair of diamond earrings. Duh."

"Mom!" Al whined, shaking her head at Kate's reflection in the rear view mirror. "That's for girls."

"All the more reason to get earrings for him."

They joked, Kate tossing back feminine ideas with Al batting them back at her with giggles. But Kate had thought about this present, the one that he had maintained that she not have to buy, since after dropping Castle off at his apartment. It was a big deal, one that she didn't want to screw up. She had an idea, already bought and sitting back in her bedroom, but she wanted to see what Al had in mind.

"Well, if you don't want to get him a matching tutu, what are we going to give him?" she asked.

Al deflated. "Don't know."

"Let's store-hop. See if something catches our eye, okay?"

She parked near a collection of small stores, hoping that one of them would give Al an idea for a gift. They always had her backup in the apartment if things didn't work out here.

* * *

><p>He opened the door before Kate knocked and she suspected that he had been listening, ear pressed to the door, for their footsteps. He had a bunch of balloons in one hand, a tray of chips and dip in the other.<p>

"And there are my women!"

Kate smirked, pushing past him and claiming the chips and dip as she went. "We're not your women, Rick."

"Yeah," added Al, but her miniature grin lasted a second before wrapping her arms around his legs. "Hi, Rick!"

He ran a hand over her hair, loose around her shoulders, as he shuffled into the apartment far enough to close the door. "Of course not. Silly of me to think that anyone could possibly own you two."

Kate had scooped up some of the French onion dip with a ruffled chip, crunching into it. "You've got that right." She held up the silver bag dangling from her hand. "Where do you want your present?"

"Told you no presents, Kate," he muttered, stealing a chip from the platter.

"I didn't listen."

"Me neither!" said Al, reaching up for her own chip. Castle handed one of the largest chips on the platter to her. "Can I have a balloon?"

He bent down, bringing the balloons down to her level so they had a sea of color between them. "Which color, little lady?" Castle saw Kate roll her eyes, setting the chips and dib on the coffee table along with the present, popping another chip into her mouth. He only winked at her as she walked into the kitchen.

Martha was sprinkling cheese onto a homemade pizza, doing a little dance to the music that was playing in her head because the beat certainly didn't match the Top 40 station that was filling the apartment. "Hello, Kate," she said, shaking the rest of the cheese from the bag in her hand over the sauce. "How's your week been?"

Kate snagged a piece of shredded cheese from the pizza from around Martha's arm. "Busy. Yours?"

"Oh, you know, rehearsals, cast dinners, costume fittings," she responded with a wave of her hand. "Same thing I've done for years. Would you get the pepperoni from the fridge?"

She searched the deli drawer until she found the zippered bag of pepperoni, opening it to take a handful of slices out. She started laying them out on the pizza, a hip propped against the counter. "But you like it."

"Kate, darling, I love it." Martha took a pepperoni from Kate's hand, ripping it in half to eat it. "It's the theatre. I was born for it. Unlike my son," she called, just loud enough for Castle to hear.

"I think Rick has a little bit of drama in him," Kate said, separating two slices to put them side-by-side on the dough. "He has to, to write the way he does."

"Mom!" Al ran over, buoyed by the teal balloon in her hand. "Look what I have!"

Kate smiled, looking down the white string to her daughter. "Beautiful. Just like you, kid." Even in that ridiculous outfit.

Castle sidled up against her side, his fingertips barely touching her as they tripped over her side. "Like all my girls."

She turned her face up to him, pushing up on her toes. "What did I tell you about women, Rick?"

"That… uh, that…"

Kate laughed as his head sort of fell down an inch or two toward her lips until she popped a piece of pepperoni onto his tongue. Then she ducked out of the way of his arm as he reached for her.

"Oh, spicy," he muttered until Al pushed between them. "Paying too much attention to Mom for your tastes, Rainbow Brite?"

"Who's Rainbow Brite?" she asked, curling her hand around Kate's knee and looking up at Castle. "I'm not Rainbow Brite." All authoritative, lips pressed together as she watched for an explanation.

He glanced at Kate, grinning, before telling the girl that Rainbow Brite was a cartoon character that dressed in all of the colors of the rainbow. "Just like you today."

Al executed a little twirl, her tutu flying out around her waist before settling again. "I dressed alone today."

"Very pretty," Castle said. "All the colors just like the balloons."

"Give Mom a balloon!" Al said, tugging on the tangled strings as if the idea was the best thing she had thought of all day. "She likes balloons!"

Kate moved out of the way, taking an oven mitt down from the counter and putting the pizza into the oven. The rush of hot air when she opened the door fluttered her hair and she tucked the strands behind her ear as she slid the stoneware onto the rack. "I like the light green one."

The balloon was in her face when she straightened, brushing her hand back against her shoulder. Her fingers brushed his when she took the string, wrapping it around her fingers. "Thanks, old timer."

"I should take it back for that," he murmured.

"You wouldn't deprive me of a balloon." Kate headed back toward the living room, flopping onto the couch with her feet up on the edge of the coffee table. She jerked on the string, watching the balloon bob in the air over her head.

He sat next to her, his leg pressed a little closer to her thigh than necessary. "Never."

Al tossed herself across their laps, giggling as she twisted so she was on her back. "What're we going to do?"

"Mmmm…" Castle mused, lightly tickling Al's stomach so the girl squirmed. "Eat cake. Then eat pizza. Then more cake. Then maybe we can watch movies and open presents." He leaned forward so his face was close to hers, tickling her neck. "Then more cake, of course."

"That's a lot of cake," Al managed between giggling gasps.

"We'll all have to eat our share. It's a burden that we must carry."

Al sat up, wiggling between the adults, holding tightly onto the string of her balloon. It bopped against Kate's, clinging from the static electricity. "Open presents first!"

He glanced at Kate who shrugged, twirling a strand of her daughter's hair between her fingers. "Presents first."

Theirs was the only one, so Kate wasn't sure why they were referring to the gift in the plural, but he still smiled as he leaned forward to snag the handle of the bag. Al had been adamant on wrapping it, swaddling the present in tissue paper after wrapping it messily with the heart wrapping paper Kate had found stuffed into a bag in her closet from years ago. So she sat back, watched as he pawed through the pink and blue tissue paper to find the slim rectangle.

When he slowly shook the box, listening for a tell-tale rattle, Al shoved his shoulder. "Open it!"

Castle pulled the paper off the box, crumpling it up into a ball and tossing it at Kate's head. "That's for calling me an old timer, Miss Beckett," he said before taking the lid off the black box. He had no idea what was inside. It didn't make a noise when he shook it and it wasn't heavy. "Oh, the mystery," he muttered, flipping the white tissue paper inside away from the center of the box.

It was a single piece of paper, thick cardstock, under the glass of a mahogany frame. Both Kate and Al were watching him as he read the words printed across the cream surface, saw as his smile widened.

"Mother, they beat your present!" he called, waving the framed paper in the air at Martha, watching from a chair at the dining table.

Martha shook her head. "Really? They beat me giving birth to you, Richard?"

"Yeah. They did. Sorry."

"Well, what is this marvelous present that has suddenly become better than giving you life?" she asked, getting up to lean against the back of the couch to look over Castle's shoulder.

He was too busy grinning at the people on the couch next to him to notice his mother. "A deed."

"You have a home."

Castle reached out, feather his fingers over the ends of Kate's hair before tickling Al's neck again. "And now I have a home on Mars."

He didn't let go of the deed to the little patch on the neighboring planet the entire night. They did eat cake first, followed by the pizza. Then, while the four of them sat on the couch with another slice of cake, they watched the movie that Castle claimed was his all-time favorite – Pinocchio. Kate had whispered into his ear that she thought it was because he lied all the time. He hadn't denied it.

Al was drifting in and out of sleep against her shoulder as Kate sang along to "When You Wish Upon a Star" with Jiminy Cricket, head bent to Al's ear. But Castle was wide awake, staring at her.

"You know, Al said you sang," he said in a low tone into her ear, "but she didn't clarify how beautiful your voice is."

Kate stopped, turning to look at him. "I… just…"

"No need to explain, Kate. It sounded pretty." Then his focus was back on the movie, just his hand resting on her thigh keeping contact between them.

While the end credits rolled, Kate got up, gathering the empty dishes despite Martha's protests, and placing them into the sink. Castle had a still-sleeping Al in his arms, her head lolling against his arm.

"Grab your coats. I'll carry her down to the car so you don't have to wake her up."

She did, trying to hide her smile that would have betrayed just how sweet she thought his movements were, and met him at the door. "You know I'll just have to wake her up when I get to my building."

"You could bring me home with you," he suggested with the slightest of eyebrow wiggles.

Kate wanted to shove him but her sleeping daughter yawned and snuggled deeper into his arms so she settled on glaring. "Not tonight."

They were quiet on the ride down to the first floor, waving goodnight to Eduardo, and moving out into the chill of the April night. She unlocked the back door of the Crown Vic, let Rick settle Al into the car seat, close the door with a gentle click.

She waited against the passenger side of the car, watching him with Al and not trying to hide the love she knew was in her eyes; he could never see the emotion in the dark. "Thanks, Rick."

He stepped down off the curb, keeping her against the door. "No, thank you, Kate. It was a really perfect night. And thank Al for me, too." Castle leaned down, placed a kiss against her lips. Soft and unassuming, with the slightest of pressure.

"Rick, what're we doing?" she asked, pulling her head back an inch, searching for his eyes in the night.

Castle didn't seek her lips again, moving back up onto the curb and snagging her wrist to pull her up with him. "Saying goodnight."

"That's how you say goodnight to all the people you know?" she asked, letting her fingers twine with his for a moment, smiling.

He shook his head. "Only you, Kate."

So she took her turn, turning her face up to kiss the corner of his mouth. "Goodnight, Rick. See you tomorrow?"

"Of course."

He watched her get into the front seat, turn the overhead light on to wave back at him, and start toward home. Eduardo looked up from his newspaper when Castle came back into the lobby.

"Have a good birthday, Mr. Castle?" the other man asked as Castle passed by.

"Got property on Mars, spent the night with a charming girl, and got a kiss from a beautiful woman. I'd say my wishes came true for the day, yes."

Eduardo nodded, flipping the page of People. "Glad to hear it, Mr. Castle."


	32. Chapter 32

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>The case had spilled over from the previous day. What had started as a simple guy shot boy-toy over girl had turned into a tangled web of money and love affairs. The board was crowded with photos of the crime scene overlapping three different handwritings. Everyone was running on coffee fumes and the unspoken prayer that eventually they'd find the end of the web sooner rather than later.<p>

"What if… What if she was in the Mafia and just hired her boyfriend to complete the hit on her side-lover?"

Castle blinked over at Kate, her head resting on her crossed arms, mumbling into the hollow created on top of her desk. She really must be tired to be rattling off ideas like that, ones that any other time she would have shot down at the word "Mafia." She hadn't gone home for almost forty-eight hours, neither of them had seen Al in that time, and both sleep and food had been missing in the days.

"Hey." He looked down at her as she turned her head so her cheek was pressed against the back of her hand. "Any insight?"

"To the Mafia angle?" he asked, a brow arched. "Seriously?"

Kate's eyes kept opening, then closing down slowly before she opened them again. "Mhm," she hummed. "Come on, Mr. World-Famous-Mystery-Writer. Spin a tale to explain this case so we can all go home."

What he wanted to bring her home and cook dinner for her and her daughter. He wanted to tuck her into bed and let her body finally catch up on all of the lost hours of sleep while he played more board games with Al or made forts of pillows and sheets or watched movies he hadn't seen since he had been a kid.

But she'd never agree to that. Not even in her current state, running on less than empty.

"Give me a few minutes," he said, getting up. "You want coffee?"

She shook her head, still on her arms, but he still picked up her mug and went to the break room. Instead of getting the both of them espresso from the machine he had donated to the division after one too many cups of cringe-worthy coffee, he pulled out his phone and dialed a number he had memorized.

* * *

><p>"Mom!"<p>

Kate's head snapped up when she heard Al's voice. The first thought that passed through her mind was the curious idea that maybe she was so tired, so hungry that she was hearing things. But when the little body bumped against the arm of the chair, her head pressing against her arm, Kate figured she was in the real universe.

"Tired?" Al asked, her fingers tracing her mother's hand, looking up through her dark curtain of curls.

Kate turned in the chair, scooping Al up onto her lap and setting her cheek against the curls. "Yeah, kid. Very tired." She scanned the bullpen until she found her father, talking to Castle near the door to the break room. "Hey, Dad."

He walked over, ran a hand through her tangled hair. "Hey, Katie."

"You brought Al."

"Rick said you might need a pick-me-up. Plus," Jim said, tweaking Kate's nose through Al's hair, "she missed you. Spend some time with her then get back to work. Take a half hour." He kissed both of their cheeks then went back toward the break room.

"So, Al, what'd you do at school these past couple of days?" Kate asked, moving her bowl of Skittles closer to them both, handing the girl a few of the candies.

* * *

><p>He was watching out the break room window as the presence of her daughter lifted most of the exhaustion and frustration out of Kate's face. It felt good, helping her even if she didn't think she needed it.<p>

"I haven't seen her that tired since Al was a newborn."

Jim was leaning against the doorframe, smiling. "Those first months, I don't think she slept more than twenty hours a week. She wanted to get everything right and it wore her down. I can't count the number of breakdowns I saw her go through before I convinced her to slow down."

They had met twice before, just dinner when Kate went to pick Al up from Jim's apartment with Castle in tow on the way to drop him off. Jim had teased Castle relentlessly and Castle had sensed that Kate had a hand in arranging the miniature hazing. He had seen the little smiles she had been trying to hide over dinner as her father raked Castle over the coals. But the two men got along, bonding over Kate and Al as well as a mutual love of literature and practical jokes.

"It was the right decision, Rick. Calling me and Al." He gave Castle a reassuring smile, moving to take down one of the extra mugs and pour himself coffee. "She needed that."

"I wasn't sure if I was overstepping," Castle said, turning away from the window, his back against the counter. "But she was talking about a Mafia hit as a theory for the case and something had to be done."

Jim laughed, taking a sip of the coffee. "I can see how that would be concerning. Listen, there's something I've wanted to talk to you about for a while."

Castle's breath caught in his throat. Something that began like that, from the father of the woman you might be dating but aren't really dating yet, didn't bode well. "Uh, okay."

"Not to sound incredibly old-fashioned, but what exactly are your intentions toward my girls?"

If there ever was a moment to get the words exactly right, this was that time. Did "I want to marry Kate and give Al a father" sound too forward? There was always "She's my soul mate," though that sounded like a line from a cheesy romantic-comedy.

He settled on "I want to be in their lives, no matter what role that implies." Castle watched Jim's expression for a hint of something. Anything. "It's up to them."

Jim kept his face blank, a professional poker face as he spun the coffee mug in his hands. "And if neither Kate nor Al want you around?"

The thought hit him in the stomach. What if they didn't want him around? Hard to imagine being the case since they had kept him around for the past four months. Why would they have done that if they were just going to toss him away? But Jim was studying him, waiting for an answer, so Castle took a deep breath and met the older man's stormy blue-grey eyes.

"Then I'll leave. It'll hurt, but I'd do it." He still felt the need to plead his case, so he continued. "I've gotten to know both of them. More than that, they've give me something that I had been missing." He resisted the urge to turn, to look out the wide window at the desk he had spent the past two days at with one of the women in question. The single word was caught in his throat but he forced it out. "Love."

The other man tilted his head, narrowed his eyes. "Does Katie know that you're tossing around the L-word?"

"No." Castle glanced out the window now, unable to stop himself, in time to see Kate toss a red Skittle into the air and catch it in her mouth to a round of applause from Al and a few uniforms that had observed the trick. "I'm following her lead with that."

"Good," Jim said, nodding. "Good. And Rick?" He stepped forward, clapped Castle on the shoulder. "She likes control, has clung to that since she was nineteen and my wife died. But don't let her hold you at arm's length forever. You might need to push a little. You'll know when."

Jim passed Ryan, Esposito, and Montgomery as he headed back out to his daughter and granddaughter. Esposito grabbed Castle's arm as he moved to follow Jim, pulling him back into the break room.

"We're gonna talk for a bit," Ryan said as Montgomery closed the break room door behind the trio.

* * *

><p>"'Cept Marcus kept pushin' people," Al said, waving her hands, narrowly avoiding hitting Kate in the face.<p>

She was sitting on Kate's lap, her legs swinging between Kate's. Bright pink shoes against the black fabric of her mother's pants. Kate was holding a handful of Skittles in her hand, letting Al pick colors out of the bunch and eat them between words of the story she was telling.

"Not very nice of Marcus," Kate said, smiling up at Jim as he walked over, leaning against the corner of her desk. "Did Miss Amanda do anything to stop him?"

Al nodded, taking a green candy piece and handing it to Jim. "She had him do time out."

"That was the right thing to do. We don't push people, not even when we're playing a game, right?"

"Right." Then she turned her smile up, waving so vigorously that Kate had to plant her feet on the ground to stop the chair for swiveling back and forth. "Grandpa! Eat the Skittle!"

He popped it into his mouth, grinning. "Thanks, Allie-bug."

Kate had her head settled in the crook of Al's shoulder, their hair blending into one mass of brown curls. Jim could already see a hint of a genuine smile peeking through the cloud of sadness that had been hanging over her when they had stepped off the elevator. And suddenly, he felt that Castle had made the right decision in calling him and Al to stop by. Both Kate and Al needed the time together.

"You talked to Castle," Kate said, eating an orange candy, arm reaching around her daughter. "What about?"

He waved it off, "Man stuff." Jim sat in the visitor's chair, the one that Castle had claimed when Al wasn't around to kick him out.

"Rick called Grandpa," Al whispered into Kate's ear, her hands holding onto Kate's wrist as she pushed Skittles around in her palm. "And we came to visit you." Her hands moved up to her mother's face, her little fingers pressing into the skin around Kate's eyes. "You sad and tired, Mom."

"I was. Not so much anymore," she said, kissing Al's cheek. "Now, tell me what type of trouble Grandpa has been letting you get into at his house."

* * *

><p>"What's up?" Castle asked, backing up into the counter again.<p>

"You know, just a friendly conversation," said Ryan with a shrug.

From the semi-predatory looks the officers were giving him, Castle was fairly certain that this was not going to be a "friendly conversation" in any manner. Montgomery was sidled up next to him against the counter while the other two paced in front of them.

"So, you've got her father on speed-dial," started Esposito.

"And you've spent time with Al," added Ryan, leaning back against the table in the room, crossing his legs in front of him. Casual. A direct contrast to the tone of their comments.

Unsure if they were waiting for a response, Castle just said "Yes."

"With this new book, any chance that Beckett is being your muse in any other capacity?" Figures it would be Montgomery, the father-figure of the precinct, asking about whether he was taking advantage of Kate outside of work.

"Listen, guys," he started, meeting each pair of eyes in what he hoped was a confident manner. "I like Kate. A lot. I like Al a lot, too." What was today? Annual Torture the Potential Boyfriend Day? It could not be coincidence that both Jim and her family from the Twelfth had decided to corner him in the break room on the same day. It didn't matter; Castle would fight for her. "Anything beyond following her for the book and hanging out with her and Al outside of the precinct is up to her."

Montgomery and the boys exchanged glances, obviously gauging his honesty. Castle wasn't sure if the whole deal of gaining their approval was endearing or a little creepy. He decided that it was an interesting mixture of both, touched at the familial nature of the Homicide division. If he needed the green light from the captain and Kate's team members, he'd let the other men crowd him against the counter and interrogate him.

"Okay."

Suddenly, the barrier of the men of the Twelfth was gone. Castle let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding when Ryan spoke.

"Really?" he asked, itching to fist-pump or dance or give each of them a handshake.

Esposito shrugged. "You haven't left yet. That's something the others did, usually when Al makes her appearance."

"And they both like you." Ryan shoved Castle's arm, getting him to move out of the way so he could make a cup of espresso.

"From this point on, if you screw up, it's your fault," Montgomery said. "But know, Castle," he paused, stopping at the doorway, hand on the knob, "that we'll be watching. You hurt our friend, we'll hurt you."

Once Ryan and Esposito had their coffee, they followed the path of Montgomery back into the bullpen. Castle took down a mug, running his finger over the rim as he watched the three Becketts at her desk. He could see her laughing, not as freely as he would like, but it was an improvement. The exhaustion was still lingering. His next goal was to erase that from her face.

So instead of pouring the coffee he had planned on, he pushed the mug back against the wall with its twins and went to Kate's desk. Al was telling a story about Sadie running into a book shelf and knocking down all of the items on the shelves. The girl told it as a comedy, giggling in between words, while Jim seemed to view it as a horror story.

He tapped Kate's shoulder, leaned down so his mouth was next to her ear. "Let's go home, Kate."

"But the case-"

"Will be here after a full eight hours of sleep. And it'll make more sense after those eight hours." Castle pulled her coat from behind her back, holding it out.

Al turned her head, resting it against Kate's chest. "We goin' home, Mom?"

Kate sighed, then got up, putting Al into the desk chair so Castle could help her into the jacket. "Yeah, Al. We're going to go home now."

Jim broke away from them in the lobby, insisting that he take a separate cab to his place uptown, that it was silly for them to go to the Upper West Side just to drive back down to SoHo and TriBeCa. He hugged the women, pressed a kiss to Kate's cheek, then nodded to Castle before going to find his own taxi.

Castle hailed a taxi outside of the precinct and let Kate slid in first with Al between them. On the ride from the precinct to his loft, he watched as Kate's head went from upright to leaned against the window of the cab, fast asleep.

"Rick," Al whispered, pulling on his coat sleeve and sitting up straight to talk to him as softly as possible. "Mom is sleeping."

"She's been working hard. We'll just let her take a nap in the apartment while we play some games. That sound like fun?"

Al nodded, already looking back at Kate. "Mom's okay, though?"

He gave the girl's knee a squeeze, smiling at the bright pink shoes again. "Yeah. Mom's fine. Just tired."

"Okay." Al rested her head against Castle's arm, wrapping her arms around his wrist. "What games are we gonna play?"


	33. Chapter 33

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>Castle decided to not to wake Kate up when the taxi dropped them off in front of the building. After paying the driver, he scooted out of the car, taking Al's hand to help her out onto the sidewalk.<p>

"Stay there while I get Mom from the other side, okay?" he asked, waiting for Al to nod as she tried to hide a smile.

Kate weighed next to nothing as he slipped his arms under her knees and back. The driver only grinned as he drove off with a little wave back at the trio. Eduardo opened the door for them, winking at Al.

"You wear your mother out, Miss Beckett?" he asked, walking ahead to press the elevator call button that Al raced him to, hitting the up arrow with a smile.

"No, Rick made her tired at work. She's sleepy."

"I can see that." The man nodded toward Castle. "You got these two under control?"

With Kate's head lolled against his shoulder, Castle tried to move as little as possible so as not to wake her. "Oh, I think it's the other way around; they've got me securely under their thumbs. Have a good night, Eduardo."

"Night, Ed!"

"Good night, Mr. Castle, Miss Beckett."

What Castle really wanted to do was pinch himself. Or scream like one of his crazy fangirls. But both would have to wait since he was far too distracted by Al, bouncing next to him and making the car wiggle, and the soft curl of Kate's breath against his neck. The moment was too surreal to break it apart with a squeal.

He had to carefully maneuver to get his key from his pocket without dropping Kate on the floor.

"Where's Mom gonna sleep?" Al asked as she watched Castle kick the door closed behind them.

He scanned the room, wondering the same question. There was the couch, but if he let her sleep there, then where would he and Al play? There was a guest room upstairs but he wasn't sure he wanted to risk the stairs; visions of tripping and crushing Kate beneath him made him strike that idea immediately.

"Let's put her in my room. We can close the door so we won't wake her up," he whispered.

Al pushed the doors open ahead of him. Castle laid Kate on the bed, tugging her shoes off. Not a moment after he dropped the heels onto the floor near the bedside table, the woman curled into a ball, hugging the pillow to her cheek as she sighed.

Castle scooped Al up under her armpits and deposited her on his shoulders. "Don't hit your head on the way out."

He closed the door until it was only cracked open as they went back into the living room.

Al wrapped her arms around his forehead, resting her chin on his head. "Can we make a fort again?"

"Duh," he said, holding onto her legs as he zigzagged through the study before tossing her onto the couch. "Let's get building, partner."

* * *

><p>Kate woke in the dark. She blinked, trying to place exactly where she was but the room was unfamiliar. Using her elbow, she propped herself up on the pillows. They sunk in around the joint so she had to shift again. Still fully dressed save for her shoes, she was on top of the bed, the sheets and comforter tucked in beneath her.<p>

As her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting, she could make out a thin line of light from the cracked door. It illuminated a bit of an armchair shoved into the corner of the room near the windows. A closet door was open next to it, the interior too dark for Kate to make out any of the items inside.

It wasn't her bedroom; that much was clear.

She pushed her hair out of her face as she swung out of the bed. The hardwood floor under her bare feet was warm as she moved toward the line of light. She recognized the study from the bookshelves but the rest of the area was just as dark as the bedroom. The only sound was the main menu music to The Little Mermaid, transporting the loft to a world under the sea.

"Al? Rick?"

No response. As she rounded the bookshelves she saw why.

Under a fort built using the couch cushions as walls and blankets as the roof were her daughter and her friend. Both were fast asleep, Al using Castle's arm as a pillow. Kate leaned her shoulder against the shelf on her left, holding her elbows as she watched the two.

"You're awake."

His voice made her start, squinting toward him to see that he was looking at her. "It appears that way, doesn't it?"

"Give me a second," he said. Then she tried to hide a smile by pursing her lips together as he carefully extracted his arm from under Al's head, replacing it with a throw pillow. Somehow he didn't knock down a single cushion as he crawled out from the fort. Kate got a glimpse of his abs before he pulled his shirt down. "Talk in the kitchen."

She followed him over, pausing to check on Al. The girl was well and truly out, not moving even when Kate brushed a hand over her cheek. In the kitchen, Castle was pouring out coffee for each of them.

"You made a fort with my daughter," she said, sliding onto one of the barstools at the counter, wrapping her hands around the warmth of the mug.

He sat next to her, their elbows bumping into one another, his thigh pressing against hers. "And carried you to the elevator."

"How gentlemanly of you."

Castle hummed in agreement, taking a sip of his coffee. "I should be rewarded."

Kate nudged him with her fist, grinning. "You are all about rewards, aren't you? Someone runs on operant conditioning. You do something manly, I give you a kiss. Repeat."

"Whatever works," he muttered, tilting his head toward her. "So?"

"So what?"

"Do I get a kiss? For being manly and carrying you to the loft and then entertaining your daughter by singing along with Ariel until she fell asleep on me?" He raised a brow with a grin. "That's an awful lot for one man. I should get at least a peck on the cheek."

Kate again tried to hide her smile, pulling her lower lip between her teeth for a moment as she spun the mug on the polished granite counter. "Listen, Rick. I need to… Can…" She took a deep breath. "I know I asked you before but…"

She knew what she was trying to ask but the words weren't cooperating. They tangled up in her chest and she kept trying to find the right one but it disappeared in with the rest as soon as she grabbed it up. So instead, she looked up at him, hoping he would read her eyes.

"You want to define the lines of this," he said, waving a hand between them .

He got it. Thank goodness he got it. But his reaction, what he said about their could-be relationship, is what Kate was truly frightened of. Friends, she could settle with – Al would be more than happy to simply spend time with him and Kate could live with that. More than friends scared her. But he had stuck around so far and she sensed that he might be willing to wait for her to open up the little piece of her heart that had been locked away five years ago.

Castle let go of his mug and took her fingers from hers, the heat from hers transferring to him. "Kate," he said softly, drawing her eyes up to his. "I want whatever part of your lives that you're willing to let me into. If that means that we get together for coffee once a week, the three of us, after work, I'll be happy. If you want to try something more, then we'll try that." With their hands still joined, he lifted them up to smooth his thumb over her cheekbone. "Whatever you want, Kate, I'll give it to you."

Kate found herself moving into the motion. "Come on a date. With Al and me." When his eyes widened, she stumbled over her words as she tried to explain herself. "I mean, if 'we' happen, I want Al to be okay with it. Because as much as I like you, Rick, Al's my daughter. She'll always come first."

"Okay."

"Okay?" she asked as he rubbed his thumb over her knuckles.

He smiled softly. "Okay. I'll go on a date with you and Al." Castle took a sip of the coffee, still grinning while watching her from the corner of his eyes. "But you better make it worth it. Not every day that the girl gets to ask the guy out."

Kate floundered, her mouth opening and closing. "This is the twenty-first century, Mr. Castle. Women can ask men out any time they like. But I can assure you, this date will be like none that you have gone on before."

"Oh, of that I have no doubt." He set the coffee mug on the counter, turning to her with a brow raised. "Now, about that kiss…"

She gave his hand a little tug toward her as she turned her hand over, scraping her short nails over his palm before curling around his fingertips. She leaned forward until her nose brushed his. Just before their lips met, she pulled back. "I'll owe you."

"You are a tease, Katherine Beckett," he murmured as he watched her calmly take a sip of her coffee. "Better be some kiss to make up for that."

"Hope the suspense doesn't kill you."

"I'm sure I'll find some way to survive."

Kate glanced over at the television screen. "We should hit play again or something. Hearing the same song over and over is going to make me never want to see that movie again." She got up, releasing his hand and pulling hers from under his warm palm. "Want to watch something else or go with silence?"

He wandered behind her, watching unashamedly as she bent down to eject the DVD from the player. "I was always a fan of Robin Hood. It's only on VHS though."

"Old school. I like it," she said, shaking the disc on her finger. "Where's the case?"

Castle tossed it to her as he dug out the tape of Robin Hood. "The couch might be uncomfortable without the cushions. Put the tape in and I'll get some pillows."

Kate slipped the VHS into the player just as Castle emerged from the study with an armful of pillows, blankets, and a pair of black heels. "These are yours. Figured you'd be more comfortable napping without the possibility of stabbing yourself." He dropped them next to the couch before arranging the pillows so they could sit at ease.

She crossed her legs as she sat, smiling as he settled just close enough that he could brush his fingers over her knee. As the rob-from-the-rich-give-to-the-poor fox on screen started to whistle with Little John, she turned to Castle. "Thank you."

"For what?" he asked, brow furrowing as he looked away from the TV.

"For… everything." She swallowed, letting her fingers twine with his on her knee. "It's been a long time since I've been able to do this. Just let go."

Before she could stop him, Castle tugged her so her knee hit his thigh as he let his lips press against hers. He was able to feel her gasp of surprise before he sat back. "Any time, Kate."

She touched her fingertips to her lips, smiling behind them. "That doesn't count as my kiss. Just so you know."

"Oh, definitely not. I expect you to be the instigator in that one."

"Quiet!"

Both Kate and Castle blinked. A head of tousled brown curls popped up from within the fort, glaring back at the adults. "Trying to watch Robin Hood."

While Castle tried to stifle a laugh, Kate nodded solemnly. "Of course, Al. We'll be quiet now."

Al grinned. "Morning, Mom!" Then she disappeared into her fortress.

"When's our date?" he asked quietly so as not to disturb Al.

Kate shrugged, reclaiming his hand. "How about Saturday?"


	34. Chapter 34

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>Al insisted on dressing herself for what she had decided to call "her date." Kate had only smiled and left Al's bedroom to change from her own pajamas into jeans and a pale blue v-neck t-shirt, adding a cream scarf against the late April chill. They'd be walking so she went with a pair of tan leather ballet flats from the back of her closet rather than her usual heels.<p>

"Dressed!" announced Al, striking a pose in Kate's doorway.

Conservative, given her rainbow of colors lately. This time the tutu over her heather grey leggings was bright blue with multi-colored sparkles sprinkled over the tulle. Her top was white with little blue butterflies fluttering across the fabric of the t-shirt. Navy ballet flats with bows on the top were on the floor in the hallway.

"We match," Kate said as Al launched herself onto the bed. "All blue."

"Like the sky," Al told the ceiling, lying on her back with tulle settled around her waist.

Kate placed a knee on the mattress so she could lean over and blow raspberries on Al's stomach, pulling a bubble of laughter from the little body. "Just like. Let's hope it stays that way today."

Al sat up, pushing Kate's head away. "No rain on my date." She slid off the bed, running her hands over her tutu before dashing out the door. "Come on, Mom! We need Rick!"

"A date with him would certainly be hard without him actually present." Kate followed Al out to the living room where the girl was already wearing her light jacket, bouncing on the balls of her feet. Balancing a hand on the back of the couch, Kate slipped her shoes on before Al threw her mother's coat at her.

"So slow," Al whined, hand on the doorknob but not turning it; she knew the rules.

"Listen, I'm sure Rick would want me to be fully dressed for the date. Give me two minutes, kid." She pulled on the coat, buttoning the antique brass buttons with anchors on them before tugging her hair from under the collar. She checked that her wallet was in her pocket before holding her hand out to Al. "Come on. Let's go get our date."

The cab ride across the island was short, Al practically climbing into Kate's lap, the seatbelt cutting into her neck as she tried to see out the windows. After two times of pushing Al's shoulders back into the seat, Kate gave up and let Al unbuckle and sit in the vee of her legs, buckling her own seatbelt around the two of them. She ignored the glare from the driver as Al pressed her face against the window, looking for Castle's building.

Kate had texted him when they left and she saw him leaning against the side of the brick building, his hands shoved into his pockets against the gentle breeze. When Al opened her mouth to scream a welcome, Kate clapped her hand over the girl's mouth.

"No yelling, Alexandra," she whispered into Al's hair, removing her palm only when Al relaxed. Kate unbuckled the seatbelt so Al could crawl over into the middle seat, eyes bright as she waited for Castle to open the other door.

He slid in, closing the car door behind him in time for Al to wrap her arms around his bicep. "Hi, Rick," she mumbled against the fabric of his coat.

"Hey, kid." With his free hand, he pulled at the ends of her hair, watching the curls spring back into place. Then he looked over Al's head at Kate and caught her smiling at him, her face wearing that soft, completely-not-Detective-Beckett expression, and his heart leapt when it didn't disappear as their eyes met. "Hi, Kate."

"Hi, Rick," she said. Then she blinked, looking down at her lap for a moment, before placing a hand on the passenger seat and giving the driver the next address as quietly as possible.

"Keeping secrets?" he asked as she sat back, adjusting the belt over her shoulder. Kate's eyes twinkled as she winked at him. Castle frowned, ducking his head down to talk to Al in a stage-whisper. "Mom's keeping secrets, Al. Shall we torture them out of her?"

Al giggled then pushed Castle's face away from her. "No. I like secrets." She grabbed for Kate's hand, weaving her little fingers through her mother's long, thin ones. "We have good secrets."

"Is that so?" Castle mused, watching as Kate rubbed her thumb over Al's hand.

In a movement that should have been comical, both women nodded at the same time, eerily similar smiles of pursed lips on their faces. He sat back, spinning his thumbs as he looked out the window. "Fine then. Guess I'll just keep my secret to myself."

They rode in silence for about thirty seconds; Castle watching out his window while Al tried not to look at the man next to her.

Then Al was suddenly clambering up his arm, her fingers digging into the muscle until she was at eye level with him. "Share. Secrets aren't good anymore. Tell me," she huffed out, breathless from the climb.

He bit his lower lip, shaking his head. "Nope. Not telling."

"Please?" she begged, tugging on his arm until she plopped onto the seat. "Please?"

Kate could see that he was hiding a smile, one that was peeking out in the blue of his eyes as he stared straight ahead, refusing to make eye contact with the girl. She had to turn and look out the window, a hand covering her mouth, in order to hide her own smile. Somehow she schooled her features in time for Al to turn her attention on her mother.

"Mom. Make Rick tell." It was like looking into the mirror in the interrogation room; Al's face was determined, little blue fires in her eyes. Her fists were curled on her lap around the tutu.

Kate shrugged, wrapping a hand around Al's fists. "It's not fair to make him tell his secret if we're not going to share ours. You going to tell him our secret, Al?"

The resolve in the girl's eyes faded a little. "Can we?"

"Maybe just a hint. Think he's smart enough to figure it out?" Kate asked, glancing up at Castle. "You smart enough, Rick?"

"Is that a challenge?"

Kate grinned, then bent her head down to smooth out the tulle of Al's tutu before whispering into her ear. She cut off Al's exclamation of "I don't know what-" with a shushing motion over her mouth. "Trust me. If he's smart, he'll get it." She gave a little nod the man as Al turned around on the seat.

"Why is a raven like a writing desk?" Al asked calmly, looking back at her mother to make sure she said it right.

Castle's smile was immediate. "Really? But what does Carroll have to do with anything?"

"Oh, we didn't say we'd tell you the reasoning behind the hint, did we, Rick?" Kate said with a grin. She held her hand up for a high five from Al who was back to the little girl Kate knew and not a strangely similar reflection of herself at the precinct.

Before Castle could insist that the women share another hint, like what Lewis Carroll had to do with their date, or tell his secret, the cab stopped. Kate was out of the back, helping Al bounce her way across the seat before leaning back in to pay the driver.

"You coming?" she asked, giving his shoulder a poke when he just sat there, trying to get a glimpse of where they were. "Because I'm kinda hungry and I think Al might burst out of her skin if we make her wait any longer."

"Uh, yeah," he said, getting out of his side and closing the door.

The place they had stopped outside of did not look like much. The corner of what seemed to be a residential neighborhood wasn't crowded like the ones in Midtown but a bicyclist did have to dodge the three of them in the middle of the sidewalk. As Castle turned his eyes to Kate, looking for confirmation that this was the right address, he saw that her eyes were as bright as Al's. She was excited, her emotions barely in check as she reached for Al's hand.

"Where are we?" he asked, following as the two women started toward a yellow building, the molding outside painted white. An awning of plum covered a series of three steps down to the door of the place. Kate didn't give him enough time to read the name on the fabric before pulling him down with them.

"No questions. At least we didn't blindfold you," she muttered into his ear as she let Al open the door for them.

The interior was warm, cozy. Light teal walls were accented with dark-stained tables and chairs. Color came in when he saw the objects on those tables. Bright purple, deep green, sunshiny yellow porcelain cups on mismatched saucers mixed with pots with lids of different colors from the bodies. Then there were cups that looked like typical teacups – white with gold along the edges, hand-painted roses and flowers and curling ivy on the sides.

"What is this place, Kate?" Castle asked, spinning in a little circle while simultaneously reaching out for her fingertips.

Before he could respond, Kate placed a kiss on his cheek. "Curiouser and curiouser."

He snagged her hand as she led him to where Al was already sitting. "Seriously. What's this place called?"

"Alice's Tea Cup." Kate sat down at the table, brushing the bit of tutu that hadn't settled around Al's waist off the tabletop. "One of three shops in the city, but this one has always been our favorite, right, kid?"

"Right!" Al exclaimed, tossing her hands into the air.

Kate placed a hand over the girl's teacup so it wouldn't get hit by the flying arms. "Gentle, Al." Then she turned back to Castle. "Inspired by _Alice's Adventures in Wonderland_. Some of the most amazing tea I've ever tasted and pretty delicious pastries."

"And fairies!" Al said, pointing at the young lady coming toward them wearing sparkling pink and leaf green fairy wings.

* * *

><p>They got in another cab, Kate again telling the driver the address as softly as possible. With sugar from cupcakes and nibbles of scones in her blood, Al was off the wall. She was sprawled out against Castle's side, blue fairy wings, ones that she had somehow gotten Castle to buy her while Kate went to the bathroom, were carefully arranged so she wouldn't crush them.<p>

The five-minute driver from Alice's Tea Cup to their next stop passed by with chatter over favorite movies. When she got out this time, Kate saw that the sky, so blue earlier in the afternoon, had gathered a few clouds during their stop for lunch. Still mostly clear, but those showers that the meteorologist had predicted might decide to make an appearance. Think positively, she told herself as she gave the driver the fare.

"Central Park. Do I get to guess where we're going?" he asked, taking Al's hand as she slid out of his side of the cab.

Kate shrugged. "I'll neither confirm nor deny any guesses." But if he was smart, he'd be able to narrow down the possibilities given where they had been dropped off.

"I'll just ask my best girl here," he said, swinging Al up onto his hip as the girl giggled, burying her head into his shoulder as soon as he had her settled. "Right, Al? You'll tell me where we're going?"

Somehow in the midst of laughter, Al managed to gasp out "Never!" which only prompted more side-tickling as Kate walked along the path in Central Park. It was a five minute walk from Terrace Drive to her final location, one filled with tourists and joggers. She grabbed his free hand, letting him tug her a little closer as they walked along the edge of the paved path.

"I know where we're going," he whispered as she felt his warmth spread over her right side where her arm made contact with his body. "Fan of little Alice, are we?"

Kate hummed noncommittally.

"So the answer's 'yes.' Interesting…" he mused.

The bronze statue is mostly empty. There's a small group of tourists, what looks like high school students on a trip with their school, standing on the edge of the area. A single woman is sitting on one of the benches nearby has a large sketchpad on her lap, a pencil of charcoal smearing black over the paper and her fingers as she looks up at the statue then back at her drawing.

Al squirmed out of Castle's arms, running to pull herself up on one of the lower mushrooms of the statue. When Castle went to help her as she started to slip back down, Kate grabbed his arm, shaking her head.

"She's independent when it comes to this place." They stood, watching as Al stepped back, examining the bronze mushroom for the best place to grab on. "She's tried to get up to see Alice every time we come. Her personal Everest."

Kate sat on the short steps up to the statue, stretching her legs out in front of her. She felt Castle lower himself next to her, both of them angled so that they could watch for Al.

"So," he started, his fingers inching toward hers on the cool stone. "Why this place? Why Alice?"

She took a deep breath, pushing her hair back away from her face. "Two reasons." Might as well start with the one that scared her the most, see if he ran first before she shared the second. "The first is symbolic." When he took her hand, Kate pulled it away, twisting her hands together in her lap. She shot an apology at him, warming her eyes with a smile. "I told you my mother was murdered. What I didn't tell you was just how hard I took it. Dad, he hid in alcohol, dulling the ache. I joined the Academy pretty much the day after I got my diploma. I couldn't drink myself to the point of teetering on the edge of living and dead like he did more than once. But I had my own way of doing just that."

Kate had to pause, couldn't keep plowing ahead through the words, closing her eyes for a moment before focusing on Al. The girl was waving to them from atop the lowest mushroom and Kate made the effort to raise her arm to wave back. When she let it fall, Castle snagged it, pulling it against his thigh where he trapped it under his hand. She didn't fight it this time.

"Rick, my mom's case is my rabbit hole. I go down it and I don't come back. Not without losing some of myself down there. It took a year of therapy for me to even start letting go and that was before Al was born. My daughter is the only reason that Dad hasn't given into alcoholism in years. She's my anchor so I don't fall down into Mom's case. So, symbolism." She finished on the miniscule rising of the corner of her lips, glancing at him sideways for a reaction. "Not heading for the hills?"

Castle squeezed her hand, curling his fingers around so they touched her palm. "No, Kate. Not running."

Kate had to swallow back the flood of emotions that washed over her, a cleansing wave. Giving in to his proximity, she let her head fall onto his shoulder. "Thanks, Rick."

"The second reason?" he asked, his voice rumbling next to her ear.

This time she could smile without worrying. "Al took her first steps here. Pretty much right where we're sitting now." He smoothed his fingers over her wrist, so she continued. "I had one day off a week, one day when I was on call. Those afternoons, I'd bring Al here. She was maybe ten months old and she just got up, mostly using my shirt as leverage, and toddled over to the statue." Kate laughed, hiding her face in Castle's shoulder, her nose digging into the muscle through his coat. "God, I must have looked like a maniac chasing after her, fumbling with my phone as I tried to call Dad to let him know."

The image, spinning itself into existence in his writer's brain, had him laughing as well. When he stopped, he saw that Kate was looking up at him, her cheek still pressed to his shoulder. "I'm sure you looked just like every other nervous mother as they watched their kid start walking."

Without warning, the skies opened up. "Shoot," Kate muttered, scrambling to her feet and running toward the statue. "Come on, Al."

"Mom," the girl said as Kate boosted her up onto her hip. "No rain on my date!"

"Looks like the skies didn't want to stay blue like our outfits."

"Let me take her," Castle said, slipping his arms around Al, prying her away from Kate's side. "I can run faster with her than you could."

Kate narrowed her eyes. "I'll ignore the challenge because it's raining and we're getting wet."

They jogged back down the path past the art student trying to hide her sketchpad under her coat while she huddled against a tree. Cabs were scarce but one stopped against the curb where Castle was waving an arm and Kate suspected it had to do with the girl on his hip, her fairy wings drooping sadly on her back.

The air conditioning made Kate shiver, feeling the water trickle down her back. Castle buckled Al in between them before giving his address.

"Rick…"

"Shush. It's closer."

He had a point so she didn't push it. She was too busy stopping her teeth from chattering and rubbing her hand over Al's thigh, catching on the wet leggings. "Chilly, Al?"

The girl responded by hugging herself close to Kate, nodding her head. "Going to Rick's?"

"Yes, we are."

Eduardo got the door for them, not commenting on their dripping clothes as they walked to the elevator. But Castle did, grinning at the man and humming "Singin' in the Rain" as they stepped into the elevator car. The loft was warm, the rain pounding on the windowpanes along the opposite wall as they kicked their shoes off in the hallway.

"Go," he said, giving Kate a little shove toward the stairs. "There's a guest room upstairs. Take a quick shower to thaw out."

She was trying to untangle Al's fairy wings from her arms, glancing over her shoulder. "Uh, do you have extra clothes for a five year old or…?"

Castle disappeared into the study, socks squelching under his feet as he ran.

"Wings are wet, Mom," Al lamented, touching the edge of the powder blue fairy wings.

Kate laid them out on the floor in the corner near the heater. "They'll dry in no time and you'll be fluttering around the city before you know it."

"Here." Castle was back, holding out a pile of clothes in his hands. "I mean, it's not a tutu and wings, but I think it'll work."

She smiled, thumbing through the pile. Two t-shirts and a pair of sweatpants. "We'll figure something out. Thanks," she said, pressing her hand to his cheek.

They went in separate directions with the same goals. Kate managed to untangle most of Al's hair before nudging her into the shower inside the guest room to warm the girl up. They switched once Kate let Al pick her t-shirt from Castle's two offerings, looking like a dress on her, plopping her onto the bed and making her promise to sit still for two minutes. She showered quickly, scratching her nails over her head in an attempt to wring out any cold rain from her hair before wrapping a towel around her body to go back into the bedroom. Al was still on the bed, sitting on the edge with her heels bouncing off the mattress.

"Warm, Mom?" she asked as Kate pulled the other t-shirt over her head.

Kate pulled on the drawstring of the sweatpants, tying them as tightly as possible but they still slipped a little. They'd work until she could get home and into real clothes. "Definitely. Let's go see if Rick's out of his shower yet."

She let Al hold the railing of the stairs on the walk down, their wet clothes in her arms. Kate dumped them next to the fairy wings; they'd be wrinkled but she'd have to run them through the wash anyway. Castle was in the kitchen, changed into a similar pair of sweats and a white t-shirt. He was pouring milk into a pot on a boiler.

"Hot chocolate," he explained without her asking, stirring the liquid in the pot with a spoon.

Al dashed over to the couch, catapulting up onto the cushions, her face buried in one of the throw pillows. Kate followed, finger-combing her daughter's brown hair, straight from the shower. The opposite of hers, currently a curling mess that refused to stay behind her ear like she wanted. "You want some hot chocolate, kid?"

"Hot chocolate for my date?" she asked, turning her head so Kate could hear her. "Yes, please."

Castle had three mugs balanced in his hands, handing them off to Kate before sitting next to her on the couch. Al was blowing on the surface of her hot chocolate, watching as the steam replaced the stuff she blew away. Kate was watching the routine with a soft smile on her face. And Castle was watching Kate. Her hair was leaving wet spots on his navy blue t-shirt, the neckline exposing a strip of skin where her neck met her shoulder, just begging to be kissed.

"You look good in my clothes," he whispered, barely loud enough for her to hear.

Kate's head spun around so fast he nearly had her chin clip his nose. "What?"

With Al distracted by her mug of chocolate, Castle leaned in and placed a kiss on her open mouth. Short. He felt a smile turning up under his lips as he pulled back. "You look good." Then he was focused on Al, grinning at her like the exchange between he and Kate hadn't happened but still seeing her surprised, slightly-pinked expression. "Al. Good date," he said, clinking his mug to hers.

"Good date," Al agreed on a nod. "Even with rain."


	35. Chapter 35

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>It turned out that the banker really had committed suicide. The fact that he did so by stabbing himself over half a dozen times in various body parts was purely, as Castle had said with a sly grin, overkill. He had been found at the bank, the knife next to him, in a pool of blood. Everything had pointed to an angry client. That was until Lanie confirmed that the angle was all off on the entrances of the stabbings and only the man himself could have inflicted the wounds.<p>

"But why'd he kill himself?" Castle wondered from his seat on the corner of Kate's desk.

Kate rearranged the contents of the cardboard box as she placed the pile of crime scene photos in with the completed 5s. "Who knows. Belongs to the beat cops now."

"Hate to see a mystery go unsolved. Going against my every nature to let you turn that over to some uniforms just so they can put it on a shelf," he muttered, handing her the lid for the box.

"Not necessarily unsolved. Uniforms might find a cause to his actions when they go over it."

Castle hummed, obviously unconvinced. "So, what do we do now with no case? Coffee and doughnuts?" His voice rose at the end, excited by the possibility of filling a stereotype.

Kate laughed, pushing the box as close to her desk as she could with her foot, sitting down in the chair with a sigh. "You want to spring for doughnuts for the precinct, go for it. They'd certainly make paperwork a little more enjoyable."

"I seriously hate paperwork." He sat in his own chair, his phone out ready to dial up his favorite doughnut shop in the city, and finally live out a dream of being a typical TV-cop when the phone in his hand rang. Unknown number but the caller ID said it was for NYU Langone Medical Center.

"Mr. Castle?"

Kate glanced over when he sat forward, his body radiating tension that she hadn't seen a moment ago. Her fingers stilled on the keyboard, moving slower but still typing out the report she had been working on. Watching him carefully.

"Yes?"

He was on his feet in a second, running toward the stairs.

"Castle, wait!" Kate grabbed her keys, leaving her jacket over the back of the chair that spun as she got up. He bypassed the elevator and she caught the door to the stairwell as it eased shut behind him. "Castle!"

She caught up to him in the lobby as he tried to weave through the incoming shift of uniforms. Pushing aside a few, she snagged the sleeve of his shirt, pulling him to a stop just inside the front doors. He shoved his phone into his pocket and tried to get past her but Kate planted her hands on his chest and gave him a shove back against the wall. "Hey. What's wrong?"

"I need to go. Now." Again, he tried to get around Kate but she shifted so she was in front of him. "Seriously, Beckett. Out of my way." That tone of voice was one Kate hadn't heard from the man before. And whatever had just happened was serious. He hadn't used her last name for a long time; she'd been 'Kate' pretty much since the day they met.

"No." He blinked in surprise when she spoke, crossing her arms. "I'm not letting you go anywhere when you're like this. Tell me what's going on."

Castle glared and Kate glared back until he let his head fall back against the wall. "It's Mother."

This time, Kate laced her fingers through his. "I'll drive you. No need to get in an accident because you're rushing the taxi driver and he runs a red light to get you to the hospital faster."

* * *

><p>Taking her unmarked had perks.<p>

Mostly those perks fell to the red gumball light she dug from the center console and lit up on the dashboard coupled with the siren she hit to get through intersections on the way to Langone. The twenty minute ride in afternoon traffic was cut down to seven, a record even for Kate who never used the light or siren in the car for anything but police business.

She tossed the laminated police plate up onto the dashboard as Castle climbed out of the passenger seat, headed toward the emergency room doors at a straight-out run. For a man that complained every time they had to walk up a flight of stairs when there wasn't an elevator in a building, he was definitely not holding back at the moment.

The automatic doors slid open as he barreled toward them, barely closing before Kate reached the same point and they opened again. The nurses at the front desk weren't perturbed as Castle jogged over, leaning on the desk, and talking to one of the young ladies as if she were deaf.

"My mother, Martha Rodgers… I got a call…" he said between deep breaths. "She was at…"

Kate walked over, nudged Castle with her hip. He scowled but moved aside as Kate laid her badge out on the counter. "Detective Beckett. You admitted a woman, Martha Rodgers. Looking for a status."

The nurse started typing, her long, painted fingernails clicking against the keys. "Yeah. She's stable. Room 213."

"Thanks," Kate said, taking her badge back before looping her arm through Castle's, pushing up on her toes to whisper into his ear. "Deep breaths, Rick. Don't need you two sharing a room because you decided to faint in the waiting room, okay?"

Since she seemed to be waiting for a response, he nodded stiffly. "Yeah. Okay, yeah."

They went down the hallway, eyes scanning for the right room number. Kate's fingers tickled the inside of his wrist, bared below the cuff of the pale blue dress shirt, until she felt his fingers twine with hers. With the connection, she felt the tension of his shoulder relax an inch, heard a fresh rush of air as he exhaled.

Martha could be heard before she was seen. And what were heard were not the groans of pain or complaints but blatant flirting.

"Oh, Richard!" the woman exclaimed, grinning over at the door when she spotted her son and Kate. "You really didn't have to come. It's nothing."

'Nothing' turned out to be a sprained ankle and a hairline fracture in her right wrist. Kate gave his hand a squeeze before she let Castle go over to his mother. The male nurse that Martha had been working on seducing stopped by Kate, glancing back at the bed.

"She's really okay?" Kate asked in a murmur, not wanting to frighten Castle once he had sort of calmed down.

The nurse nodded, tucking his clipboard under his arm. "She's fine. Stepped off a platform on the stage without thinking. She'll be out by tonight; we just want to make sure none of the pain meds we gave her when she came in are messing with her body."

Kate smiled a thanks at the man as he left. Then she leaned her shoulder against the doorframe, watching. Castle had edged onto the bed at Martha's hip, holding her uninjured hand in his as his fingers rubbed little circles on the back of her hand. His shoulders shook as she told a joke.

"Hey, Rick?"

He turned as if surprised that she was still there. "Come over, Kate. There must be a chair here… somewhere," he trailed off as he scanned the room for one of those uncomfortable hospital chairs.

Kate shook her head. "Need to go get Al from school." She pushed up off the frame, smiling at the other woman. "You're okay, Martha?"

She waved off Kate's concern with the hand not encased in a short cast. "Fine, darling. Go get that beautiful girl of yours."

Castle got up, patted his mother's hand once, and followed Kate out into the hallway.

"Listen, Rick, I-"

The rest of her words were cut off when he took her wrist and swung her into a hug. Not a gentle hug, but one that she felt as he crushed her ribs together even as he tried to pull her closer. A hug of relief and gratefulness and love. Kate let her head settle in the crook between his neck and shoulder, her nose nuzzling his throat.

"She's okay," she whispered knowing he could hear. "I'll be back. Just going to get Al and we'll come visit."

His hands traveled up to her shoulder blades, tracing the hard angle before falling back down to her waist, squeezing the muscle lightly. "Thank you, Kate. I… I don't think…"

Kate placed a finger over his lips. "Shush. Not a problem, Rick. Be back in an hour or so. Think you can handle the wounded diva until then?" She lifted her brows in tandem with her smile, moving her hand to feel the hint of stubble along his jaw line.

"I'll try."

"All I ask." She stepped away, "I have my phone."

Castle started after her until Kate spun around, poking a finger in his chest and pushing him back toward Martha's room. "Go. Be with your mom until Al and I get back. We'll bring a snack."

"Thanks."

"What did I say about that word, Castle?" she asked, narrowing her eyes as she walked backwards toward the front intake desk. "Banned. Now go."

* * *

><p>"Where's Rick?"<p>

The first words out of Al's mouth as she skipped toward Kate, her backpack bouncing as she came to a halting stop. Kate took the girl's hand, smiling at the chipped neon pink and lime green nail polish they had put on the little fingernails over the weekend, as they walked toward the car. Castle almost always came with Kate to pick Al up from school before they either dropped him off at his apartment or chose a place and hung out for the night.

"He's with Martha."

"Where?"

Kate took her daughter's backpack as Al climbed into the backseat. "At the hospital."

"At the hospital?" Al's scream had people passing by looking at the two of them with concerned glances. "Mom, why's Rick at the hospital?"

She pulled Al's fingers off of her shirt where they had wrapped around the fabric and moved to get into the front seat. "Martha tripped while at rehearsal for her play today and sprained her ankle. She's fine. They're both fine."

"Can we bring her flowers?" Al asked, eyes still wide in the rear view mirror as Kate started back toward Langone. "And candy?"

"All of the above. Rick wanted a snack and I'm sure Martha would love to get some flowers from you, kid."

They stopped at a corner flower store where Al decided on a mixed bouquet of daisies and carnations and springs of baby's breath, the entire bunch of flowers covering up her face as she held onto the stems while Kate paid. Al refused to let go of the flowers when they stopped at a convenience store, holding onto them as they found enough sweets to feed the entire wing of the hospital.

Kate was burdened with the food while Al ran down the hospital hallway yelling "Rick!" when she reached every door. It wasn't until Castle appeared in the doorway that Al stopped and ran full-tilt into his knees, crushing some of the flowers as she hugged his legs.

"Hey, kid," he said, tugging the end of her curls. Then he turned his eyes up to Kate and her armful of M&Ms and Skittles and Hershey Kisses and Tic-Tacs and 3 Musketeer bars. "Hey, you."

"Move aside before I drop this all on the ground and we have to clean it up," Kate said with a smile. Martha was still lounging in the bed, a script open on her lap, a pencil in her hand. "Still feeling good, Martha?"

The woman moved her script so that Kate could let the candy tumble out of her arms and onto Martha's sheet-clad legs. "As long as you keep Richard occupied so that the nice nurse from before can come back in, I'll be fantastic." The woman winked before turning the eraser of her pencil on Al. "Hello there, pretty girl."

Al was standing a few steps from the bed, the flowers clutched to her chest as she looked at her friend's mother up on the bed. At the edge of tears. Kate knew just from the way her daughter was squinting, then blinking rapidly, then trying to smile, she was close to crying. So she moved closer and ran a hand over Al's head, scratching the girl's scalp gently.

"Brought you flowers," Al said finally, holding the gathering of colorful petals out for Martha. "Cause they help you get better."

Martha set her pencil in the valley between her pages of the script to take the flowers. "These are lovely, Alexandra. Just beautiful."

Al moved back, reaching for Kate's hand. "You okay?"

"I'm fine, darling. Just a little misstep at the rehearsal. Happens all of the time." With the flowers along her side, Martha grinned at the girl. "But you're right – flowers definitely make people get better."

Castle stepped around them, taking a Milky Way bar from the pile. "Candy helps, too. Studies have shown there's scientific proof behind it."

Kate rolled her eyes at the man, giving Al a pack of M&Ms that she ripped open. "Sure they did."

"Swear. I'll show you the studies when we get home."

Over the next two hours, they settled into positions around Martha. Castle had taken up the seat at the end of her bed while Kate held Al in her lap on the plastic-like armchair Castle had stolen from a neighboring room. Al had her head cushioned on Kate's shoulder, her fists curled around Kate's shirt. Exhaustion and sadness and worry radiate from the little body. Martha was taking a nap, the script still spread out over her lap. Castle has his phone out, furiously typing away on the touchscreen, adding what Kate can only guess are last minute changes to book signings and release dates; a new book set to come out next month means he's going to be taken away from the city for a few days.

"Mom…"

Kate shook her head, trying to get rid of some of the sleep niggling at the back of her brain. "What, Al?"

Al turned in her lap, burying her head into Kate's hair. "Scared 'bout Martha."

There it was. The point where the five year old couldn't hold up the brave face anymore. Kate could feel the warm spots of tears as Al let go. "Oh, sweetie. Shh… Martha's fine. She'll be back to singing and dancing tomorrow, just on crutches for a little bit."

"What if…" Al sniffed, tilting her head so she spoke against Kate's neck. "What if she dies?"

"Martha's not going to die from a sprained ankle and broken wrist, Al."

"But… But what if?"

Kate pressed her cheek to Al's, whispering. "But she isn't. She'll be around for a long time, making our dates with Rick more colorful and exciting. Okay?"

Al took a shuddering breath before sighing. "Yeah."

But Kate could tell everything was not okay with the girl. She was still tense, her fist still curled around the shoulder of Kate's now-wrinkled deep red button down, and her cheek was wet with tears. So she started to hum, quietly but enough for the vibrations of the tune to reach Al.

Castle looked up from the screen of his phone when she started singing. Not just mumbling along to the words of "When You Wish Upon a Star" while watching Pinocchio at his apartment. But actual singing. He doesn't recognize the tune but she's definitely the one singing the song; the TV in the corner of the room is off and the door is shut so it's not coming from outside.

He watched as Kate shifted Al closer to her, resting her cheek on top of Al's head, and Castle had the feeling he was seeing what they looked like five years ago. Newborn Alexandra Beckett being sung to sleep by her equally-exhausted mother. And again, he was hit with the overwhelming respect he had for Kate. Raising a kid alone with only the help of your father, a recovering alcoholic, could not have been easy.

Yet just looking at them, he never would have guessed that Al was fatherless and that Kate had not a single steady man in her life save for her dad.

Until now, Castle wanted to add to his own train of thoughts as a caboose. It had only been since January, but he'd stuck around. Enchanted not only by Kate but by the little girl that she guarded like a lioness.

"That was beautiful."

He didn't realize he had actually spoken until Kate looked over at him. She had stopped singing and he could see that Al was asleep. "Uh, your singing. It was beautiful."

She smiled softly in the bright lighting of the hospital room. "Thanks."

"No, really. It was…"

"Beautiful. You've said so." Her eyes narrowed with her close-lipped smile. "So, _Heat Wave_ is released next month. Do I get an invite?"

"Nope." Her eyes widened in surprise, his face straight.

Kate's mouth opened, then shut. Then repeated the motions another three times before she got out a bewildered "What?"

Castle shrugged, going back to his phone. "I like to keep my muses locked away, out of sight from the public. You know, for their own good."

"I want to go."

Oh he can't fight her when she talks like that. He could hear the hint of disappointment weaving through her voice. The emotion was creeping into her eyes when he held his hands up. "Kidding. You're first on the list, Kate. And Al, if you want. I wasn't sure because, I mean, it's going to be late and…"

"No. Dad can look after her for the night." She bit down on her lower lip, nibbled the skin for a moment before releasing it. "Thanks, Rick."

"Hey. Banned word, remember?" But his smile gave away what he was truly feeling.

"Right." Kate looked over at Martha, nodding toward the woman. "Want to wake her up and get on the road back home? Al has school tomorrow and she should be in bed."

Castle got up, pocketing his phone, grinning. "Let's get the one-woman show on the road."


	36. Chapter 36

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>"You're sure it's not too…"<p>

Kate trailed off, waving her hands in front of her body, eyes flicking from her daughter to her best friend. They were gathered in her apartment, Al and Lanie cross-legged on the couch holding juice as Kate stepped out of the hallway to the bedrooms.

"Too what?" Lanie asked, raising a brow. "Girl, it's perfect!"

Al scrambled off the couch, sliding her cup onto the coffee table the moment before she ran into her mother's arms. "So pretty, Mom."

"Thanks, kid," Kate said, then looked over Al's head to her friend. "Lanie. You're sure?"

The woman nodded. "That's the dress, Kate. No doubt about it."

Kate had picked up the dress after work, an impulse buy knowing that she was going to need one for the book release party but she wasn't really sure if it worked. Mercury grey satin was covered with ruched black tulle hugged her body, leaving her shoulders bare. She held her right elbow in her hand, her feet balanced on one another. The pair of black heels were in the hallway outside of her room, strappy things that she had to dig from the back of her closet.

"In that case, we need to get you off to Grandpa's, Al," Kate said. "Rick's going to be by to pick me up anytime now."

"I'll take my little chica to Grandpa Jim's." Lanie got up, picking up the glasses from the coffee table and downing the rest of the apple juice. "It's on my way home and you'll have time to do your hair and make-up before your Writer Boy shows up to sweep you off your feet."

"He's not my…" Kate started then stopped, shaking her head with a smile. "Al, go get your shoes and bag."

The girl dashed off to her room and Lanie moved to follow but Kate grabbed her elbow. "Lanie, you're sure this dress works? That it's not too… I don't know… sexy?"

"Kate, that dress is the right amount of sexy. Trust me. Richard Castle will be on his knees by the end of the night."

"Ready!" Al had reappeared with her shoes on, a backpack over her shoulder for the night.

Kate leaned down, pressing a kiss to Al's cheek. "Behave, kid. I'll pick you up tomorrow afternoon at Grandpa's and maybe, if you're good, we'll get lunch at-"

Someone knocked on the door and Lanie shot Kate a grin before opening it. "Well hello there," she said, moving aside to let Castle in. "We were just going. Come on, Al!"

But Al ran right past Lanie and into Castle's knees. "Hi, Rick!"

"Hey, Al," he said, shifting so the bouquet of flowers in his hands wouldn't be crushed by the girl's hug. "Spending the night with Grandpa or is this fine lady taking you for the evening?" he asked, winking at Lanie.

"Grandpa. Flowers for me?"

Kate hissed, "Al," but Castle only grinned. "Who else would they be for, beautiful?"

The light in the widened blue eyes as Castle handed her the bouquet nearly buckled Kate's knees right then and there. She held onto Lanie's forearm, watching as Al turned around with the flowers in her arms. "Mom."

She looked up at Castle and found him smiling over at her. "Better get those in water, Al, before you take off with Lanie," she said, moving to get a vase down from the cupboard over the sink. Behind her, Lanie chatted with Castle as Al fought with the cellophane wrapping around the stems of the flowers.

"Can I bring them?" Al asked, clutching the vase to her chest, the water sloshing around in the glass.

"Yeah," Kate said, giving her a nudge with her knee. "Now get going so Lanie can get home." Again, she bent down so her eyes were level with Al's before she brushed a kiss over the girl's nose. "Love you, kid."

"Love you, Mom."

Lanie winked at Kate as she said, "I'll make sure she and her flowers get to Jim's intact. Have fun, you two!"

The door closed with a click behind them, leaving Castle and Kate standing at opposite ends of the front hallway. Kate played with one of the folds of tulle on the dress nervously, not looking at him though she knew that he was watching her carefully.

"I need to-"

"You look absol-"

She let the laugh held in her chest bubble out when they spoke at the same time. "You first," she said, smoothing her toes over the top of the opposite foot.

He took a few steps into the kitchen, twisting his hands together, the silver of his cufflinks glinting streams of light onto the floor and walls. "You're so beautiful, Kate."

"Thanks," she whispered, blinking up through her lashes at him. "You're not so bad yourself. Clean up well."

"Now you."

She hooked a thumb back toward her room. "I need to do my hair."

"Would it be corny if I said you look fine right now?" he asked with a charming smile.

"A little, yeah. I'm just going to be a minute, Rick." She turned, padded back to her bedroom. In the mirror, she lifted up a handful of her curls then let them fall onto her shoulders. She had wanted to pin them up, do something befitting of the event, but now that he had complimented the simplicity of leaving it down, she wasn't sure. It did look nice, loose and tumbling over her shoulders.

So instead of picking up the hairbrush and attacking the curls with the pile of bobbypins she had gathered, Kate found the mascara in her make-up bag and started dragging the brush through her eyelashes. It took five minutes for her to finally believe that what she had done with the eyeshadow and liner and lipstick was acceptable.

Still, she tossed the tube of pink lipstick into the little black clutch she had borrowed from Lanie next to her cell. Nervous habit of nibbling her lower lip might require touching up the color.

He was leaning against the counter of the kitchen, studying the bookshelves across the room when she walked back out into the hall, ducking down to scoop up her heels. "Almost ready. You know us women," she teased as she balanced her butt on the back of the couch to buckle the ankle strap of the shoes.

"Take your time, Kate. You're the star tonight, after all."

She felt a blush creep on to her cheeks as she straightened, pulling on the hem of her dress, suddenly aware of how the bottom only hit halfway up her thighs. "Not true and you know it. You did all the work."

"Let's agree to disagree. You did most of the heavy lifting. Sitting in my office while writing is not difficult." He held out his arm with a close-lipped grin. "Come on, Cinderella. The carriage awaits."

"I'm not a princess either," she said, slipping her fingers of his elbow anyway. "I don't need rescuing."

"Course not."

He waited as she locked the front door, tossed the keychain into her clutch before ducking her eyes back up to his. "Sweep me off my feet, Charming."

The car outside was not the horse-drawn carriage from the fairy tale. Nor was it a stretch limo like Kate thought it would be. Instead, it was a plain dark blue car, a sedan that could have been found in a suburbanite's garage out in White Plains. Kate stopped on the sidewalk, pulling Castle to a halt next to her.

"What is this?"

"Uh," he hesitated, glancing from Kate to the car, then back. "Our ride? I mean, I can get a bigger car if you want but I just figured that you'd want to be as out-of-the-limelight as possib-"

She cut him off with a kiss. Not hot or passionate or devouring, but sweet and thankful and soft. Without knowing it, his hand snaked up to rest between her bare shoulder blades, fingers splayed over the warm skin. Kate sighed, moving her head to rest on his shoulder, her lips pressed to the column of his throat.

"What'd I do to deserve you, Rick?" she whispered, her mouth tickling his skin.

He let his hand trail down her side, running over the tulle until his palm rested on her hip. "Same goes, Kate. Now get in the car before we both miss the release party when I drag you back upstairs."

She hummed, the vibrations moving down to his chest as she stepped back, a cheeky grin covering her face. "Not so Charming after all," she said, moving toward the car to open the door. Kate slid into the back seat of the sedan, scooting over to let him get in next to her.

Castle sat close to her. Too close for the sticky July heat that clung to them as they entered the air-conditioned car. His fingers danced over her naked knee, teasing the joint as the driver pulled away from the curb. Kate captured the digits against the bit of thigh uncovered as she sat.

"Rick," she said, just enough of her detective-voice in the tone to make him stop. "Book release party."

"We can skip it."

She shook her head, the brown curls hitting his shoulder. "No. I want to go see Nikki."

Castle tilted his head toward hers, his nose brushing her hair away from her ear. "You know that you are Nikki, right?"

"You're confusing fact and fiction, Rick."

Ignoring her little growl of warning, he kissed the spot below her ear. "Mmmm, no I'm not. You're fact, she's fiction. I can't do this to Nikki."

He felt her lips turn up in a smile even as she pulled her head away. She placed a hand firmly on his chest, keeping him away. "Stop for, like, five minutes, okay?" His lips moved from her ear as he shifted to meet her eyes. "At this party, will there be paparazzi?"

"Uh, yeah. Probably." Oh. The constant media, the overly bright camera flashes, the reporters that stalked his every move? That was old news to him. But to Kate, it'd be new and foreign and scary to have her privacy invaded. "Listen," he started, turning to face her, his knees brushing hers. "I can't promise that they'll leave you, leave us, alone tonight. But in the future, I'll talk to Paula about keeping them to a minimum."

Kate turned her hand over, lacing her fingers through his on the warm leather of the seat between them. "Just wanted to be prepared. You know?"

"I should have thought to warn you."

"Not your fault." She smiled, letting her head fall against his shoulder. "So, I'm Nikki." Castle hummed, nodding. "She's exactly like me?"

Castle looped his arm over her shoulders, fingers tickling her upper arm. "Ask what you really want to know."

He was not going to make this easy for her, was he? Kate sighed, shifting so her nose dug into his shoulder joint. "Does she have a kid? Because I know you said you hadn't put one in the book back when we talked before but…" She trailed off as if she realized that she had begun to ramble.

"No." They were close to the restaurant holding the book release party but he need to tell her before she read it. "No, she doesn't have a daughter. There are some things, no matter how fantastic they'd play out in a story, that are private. Al, she's ours."

"Ours?"

Well that was a verbal misstep. "I mean, I didn't want her to become public fodder. She's five. She doesn't need to be plastered over Page Six if I happen to take her out for ice cream and the media catches us."

Kate snagged the hand he had draped over her shoulder, weaving her fingers into the spaces left by his. With a quick, hard squeeze, she pulled and trapped his palm against her waist, holding it there as it became a warm spot in the chill of the air conditioning.

"I don't care what the press says," she started before he cut her off.

"But you will if they start painting Al as our illegitimate love child."

Kate's glare stopped what had promised to become another rant about how cruel the paparazzi were. "Shush and let me finish. I don't care what the presses says, Rick. You are the sweetest, most thoughtful man I've known." She paused, smiling over at him. "Well, my dad might actually beat you out. Just because."

"Daddy's girl?"

"Parents' girl. I didn't play favorites and neither did they."

They car stopped and Castle leaned his head down to Kate's ear. "Ready or not…" He got out first, putting a hand back into the car to help her out. Shielding her for a moment, Castle tugged on the hem of her dress, pulling it as far down as it would go. "Smile, Kate. Thirty seconds of light and we'll be done." He tucked her hand into his elbow. "Ignore the questions. Just smile and you'll outshine even their cameras."

The carpet gave under her heels, catching her off-guard. Castle placed his hand over hers, waiting until she got her balance before stepping forward again. "Gotcha," he whispered, voice low enough that the reporters couldn't hear.

"Thanks," she whispered back without having to force the smile. Maybe sometimes a girl could use a knight in shining armor to catch her as she fell or to gather up her lost slipper or awaken her with a kiss.

Sometimes. The other times, Kate Beckett could handle herself.

They did ignore the questions that were shouted out at them, most of them having to do with exactly who was on Richard Castle's arm. When someone asked if she was his 'latest play-toy,' she felt the muscles of his forearm bunch under her hand.

"Easy, Rick," Kate muttered, smile still in place as she tightened her fingers on the suit jacket. "Ignore them, remember?"

As soon as they were into the restaurant, he spun her into a hallway occupied only by a few of the black-clad waitstaff chatting with their platters hugged to their thighs. Castle pressed her against the wall, his hands cushioning some of the blow from their place at her waist and shoulder blade.

"Rick, what're you-"

He cut her off with a hot kiss, her head bumping back against the wall as his mouth slanted over hers. His hands crept up, tangling into her hair to hold her against him, trapped between his body and the solid wall behind her. Breaking away for a moment, regaining their breath, Castle let his head fall against hers.

Kate closed her eyes and tried to steady her breathing. "What was that?"

"You're not a play-toy, Kate."

She gave him a push backwards, stepping with him so that her feet were between his. One hand reached up, brushing over his cheek as she smiled up at him. "I know. I know, okay?" Kate waited for his nod before stretching up on her toes, the heels of her shoes coming off the ground, and giving him a soft kiss. "Can I go see Nikki now?"

"I need to sign books. Think you can amuse yourself for half an hour or so?"

"I'm sure I can find another cute guy to hang out with," Kate teased, moving toward the entrance to the hallway, her fingers reaching back for his.

He tried to snag her wrist and failed, jogging the few steps to make up the distance. "Kate…" he growled, trying to tug her back.

"Kidding, Rick. Besides," she said with a grin, "you're handsome. Cute does not beat out handsome."

"Some might say I'm ruggedly handsome."

Kate gave him a little kick in the shin before going into the foyer of the restaurant now crowded with other guests. "Must be your chiseled jaw line. Now go sign books."

He let his fingers trail over her back as he moved to the booth where people had started lining up. She saw him glance toward her as he sat, picking up the first of the Sharpies on the table. Kate winked at him before scanning the room for something to do.

He hadn't let her look at the book as he was writing it. She hadn't given into temptation when people on the fansites had begun posting spoilers online. So the display of books off to the side of the room drew her in.

The cover was a deep red, not terribly different from his previous books that lined her bookshelves back at her apartment. However, it was the woman on the left side of the cover that had her narrowing her eyes.

"Little risqué for Rick, isn't it?"

She looked to her right and saw a dark haired woman sipping from a glass of champagne, studying the cover. Her dress was a flurry of bright flowers on the single-shouldered short gown, double-hooped earrings swinging as she tilted her head.

Kate shrugged, playing with the fabric of her clutch. "It's different from his usual."

"I tried to tell him to do away with the gun but he insisted that his muse would shoot him where it would hurt if there was more than the hint of nudity on the cover. He's got respect for this girl, whoever she is."

Then the woman moved away with a syncopated click of her heels. Kate looked back at the books. Yes, the person on the cover was close-to-naked but the gun, raised up in a traditional Weaver stance, covered anything that Kate would want to shoot Castle over. She picked up one of the books resting on a stand, turning the hardcover over. Before she could open the front cover to see the most important part of the book, Kate shifted over to the corner, leaning her shoulder against the wall.

Flipping past the copyright and title pages, she held the first few pages down as she read the dedication.

_To all of my friends at the 12__th__.  
>And to the extraordinary KB and her heartbreaker – thank you.<em>

She felt her heart jump into her throat and it took a few tries to get it to settle back into her chest. Hugging the book to her stomach, Kate pushed off from the wall and started over to the booth where Castle was still schmoozing with the dwindling line of guests. She scooted into the booth, across from him in the horseshoe shaped bench. He looked up, smiled quickly, and went back to scrawling his name over the title pages of the books placed in front of him.

Once the last book was signed, he sighed, capping the Sharpie and placing it on the table. "Hey, beautiful."

Kate pushed the book across the table at him. "The dedication."

His smile faltered, glancing down at the book then back at her. "It's not too personal, is it? I mean, I didn't want to include Al if you didn't want her there but she's as much a part of what helped with the story as you are and…" he trailed off when he saw Kate grinning, whether it was at his bumbling or something else entirely.

"It's perfect."

Thing was, did he realize just how perfect the dedication, those few words spoken indirectly to her through _Heat Wave_'s dedication, were? Probably not.

Castle reached across the table, wrists resting on the cover of the novel, as he wrapped his fingers around hers. "So it's okay?"

"Yes," Kate said on a short laugh. "It's… It's lovely, Rick. You know what else would be lovely, though?" His brow rose, eyes bright as he watched her. "Feeding me."

He picked up the Sharpie, uncapped it and spun the book around between them. "Well, it just so happens," he said softly as he held the cover so she couldn't see what he was writing, "that we're in a restaurant. What can I feed you, Miss Beckett?"

When he got out of the booth, he held onto the book.

"Don't I get my book back?" she asked, following him as he walked over to the table with food.

Castle shook his head, handing her a plate even as he kept the novel tucked under his arm. "Nope."

"Why?"

"Food first, reading second. Here, try the pasta," he said, holding out a forkful of fettuccini alfredo for her. She kept her plate away from the fork. "Okay then."

Kate skirted around him to the front of the line, glaring. "Castle. My book. Now."

"Oh, we're using 'Castle' now," he murmured, picking up a roll from a basket. "Eat something, Kate, and you can have the book back."

With a grin, Kate snagged the roll from his plate, broke off a piece, and popped it into her mouth. "There." She held out her free hand. "Book."

"Ooh, you're clever." Defeated, he placed the book into her hand then gave her a gentle push out of the way. "Let me get food, woman."

Taking another bite of the roll, Kate balanced the book on her hip.

_Kate, who knew coffee could lead to this?  
>I am forever grateful.<br>Rick_

"Who knew…" she whispered, rolling a piece of the bread between her fingers before eating it. "Who knew indeed."


	37. Chapter 37

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>Castle hadn't been in the precinct, claiming a writing day. Kate suspected he just didn't want to spend the day watching her do paperwork. However, that had meant that he had missed out on the open-and-shut case from the afternoon, one that had upped Kate's mood considerably from the mundane task of filling out and filing the D5s.<p>

Still, she was surprised when she got off the elevator and found the man sitting on the ground outside her apartment, a little bouquet of flowers across his lap, his phone in his hand.

"Hey," she said softly, tapping him with the toe of her sneaker as she unlocked the door.

Castle scrambled to his feet, starting to hide the flowers behind his back then realized she had already seen them. "Uh, hi." He held the flowers out as he followed her into the apartment, toeing off his shoes as she did the same. "These are for you."

She held them up to her face, smiling into the petals. "They're beautiful. Thank you."

He resisted the urge to add "So are you" to the end of the sentence. Cliché. Cliché but true, he thought as he watched her unwrap them from the cellophane and put them in a vase, filling it halfway with water.

"So, why were you sitting outside my apartment with flowers?" she asked, bracing her hands on the counter behind her as she faced him.

"And here I was thinking you were a detective," he murmured with a sly grin and a step toward her.

She swallowed, keeping her eyes locked with his even as she wanted to duck away from the counter. He hadn't run. She certainly wasn't going to. "I am."

Kate couldn't hold back the little shiver that traveled up her spine as he crowded her into the granite countertop, one foot between hers, an arm brushing her side as he held his hand there. She could get away if she wanted, of course, but she wasn't sure she wanted to leave the warmth of his embrace at the moment.

He leaned his head down so his nose pushed at her hair as he whispered into her ear. "Then you should be able to figure out why I'm here, Kate."

She made the mistake of turning her head to reply and found his lips on hers. He seemed as surprised as she did at the action but recovered faster. His free hand came up to cup her neck, holding her in place gently but giving her a chance to escape if she wanted. But she didn't pull back. Instead, she stepped forward, her hips bumping his as she stretched up on her toes.

"Rick," she sighed against his lips, resting her forehead on his as she took a series of deep breaths. "I…"

He shook his head. "You're the lead dance partner, Kate. Whatever you want. However far."

Her heart jumped to her throat and she held back the little choking sound. Oh, what did she do to deserve a man like this one? Over the past months, she'd felt the organ now lodged in her throat mend that little corner that a stranger had taken from her five years ago and Castle was the one who had wielded the needle and thread that had stitched up that hole.

"Can we… Can we move to the living room?" she asked quietly, shifting so she had her cheek pressed to his. "Kitchen is dangerous."

He made the first move this time, moving his hand from her neck to hold her fingertips. They walked around the couch and Kate gave him a tug to sit next to her. He didn't try to kiss her again or to hold any more than her hand between them. So she reached up and threaded her hand through his hair, running her thumb over the scar just above his eyebrow as she leaned across the distance to press her mouth to his again.

"Where's Al?" he asked when they broke apart for oxygen.

Kate smiled, glancing down at their still-joined hands. "Over my dad's. Spending the night watching movies with him and the dog. He missed her and she wanted to have a sleepover."

Then he was gently pushing her onto her back, her head against the arm of the sofa. His nose brushed hers as he butterfly kissed her cheeks, her eyelids, the shell of her ear, the tip of her nose. Then he was pausing, lifting one hand from where he had it braced against the cushions of the couch, and wiping at her cheeks.

She hadn't noticed she was crying until then.

"Kate, what's wrong? We can stop if you don't…"

Kate stopped his stream of thoughts with a finger to his lips, shaking her head. "It's not you. No, it's just…" she paused, closing her eyes, unable to do this with him looking at her like he was holding a treasure in his arms. "God, Rick, I think I love you."

The proclamation had his heart stuttering. But she hadn't stopped.

"And it's been a really long time since I've felt like this. Longer than before Al was around and it feels so strange but I think that feeling's love." Her eyes fluttered open, darting up to meet his and judge if she just made another mistake, ready for him to disappear like a spell broken by her words.

She only had a moment before he kissed her again, soft and warm and sweet.

Not a mistake. Finally something that wasn't going into that column of her life. But really? How could this man who had not only accepted all of her emotional baggage of having a mystery man as her daughter's father and the heartache that went with that but also taken Al on in this nebulous friendship that bordered on something more be a mistake?

"Good. Because, Kate," he said, pulling his head back just enough to look into her eyes. "I think I love you too. And I love Al. You're sort of a package deal."

"Yeah, sort of." She laughed, tilting her head up to give him another kiss. "But not tonight, okay?" she asked, lifting a hand to cup his cheek, grazing his ear with her fingertips. "Just me tonight."

"Selfish…" he muttered.

"Only when it comes to you, Rick. Only with you."

She arched up when his fingers skirted under her shirt, dancing up her sides. The gasp turned into a bubble of laughter when he found a ticklish spot.

"Laughing at me, are you?" he murmured against her neck. Castle nipped at the skin, pulling back. "We'll see how long that lasts." He shifted off of the couch, tugging Kate to her feet. She swayed into his chest and he took advantage of the movement to scoop her up off the ground, her legs hooking around his waist.

"Rick?" she said, resting her chin on his shoulder as he spun around.

He hummed in response, concentrating on moving toward the bedroom.

"I'm glad you didn't run."

Her breath huffed out as he pressed her against the door. "Where would I go, Kate, when all I want is to be here?"

"You going to get us to bed or we going to spend all night here at the doorway?" she asked with a smile, one hand still tangled up in his hair while the other tipped his chin up to meet her eyes. "Because I'd sort of like to be in bed. With you."

"Well then." Swallowing her laughter, he spun them around.

And promptly tripped.

Somehow he managed to get Kate onto the bed before he scrambled to catch himself on the edge of the mattress. His knee still connected with the ground, hissing in pain.

"You okay?" Kate's head appeared over the edge of the bed, trying desperately to hide a smile and failing.

"You're laughing at me again."

The giggle she had been attempting to hold him burst out as he crawled up onto the bed, pressing open-mouthed kisses to the skin bared by the neckline of her button down. His fingers pushed the hem up, setting his mouth to the base of her throat.

"Not laughing at you, Rick." But the fact that she had to bite down on her knuckles to stop from doing the very thing she was insisting that she wasn't doing proved his point. "Okay, maybe a little."

With his knees on either side of her hips, Castle reached down to unbutton the shirt, starting at the bottom and moving up. He pushed the dark green shirt off her shoulders, tossing it across the room. Instead of looking at her body, his eyes stayed on her hazel ones. "Kate… Okay so far?"

She snuck her hands up between them, fingers playing with the hem of his sweater. "Yeah. Listen. I'll tell you if I want to stop. Don't need to keep asking." Then she kissed his jaw line, moving down the column of his throat as she tugged at the sweater.

He gave in, sitting back to take the shirt off, throwing it into a corner. His fingers traced the edge of her black bra, over the gentle curve of her breast. "You're beautiful."

"Not so bad yourself." And he wasn't, all toned arms that she hadn't expected from a writer at all. Her hands looped up over his shoulders, tugging him down for another kiss.

Her eyes were dark as she watched him. His breath flew over her shoulder, spreading across her chest and neck. Kate placed a hand on his cheek, fingertips pushing into his thick hair as she smiled at him from the pillow.

"This might be a slow dance, Rick. It's been a long time."

Castle snagged her wrist, drawing her palm down so he could press a kiss to the center. "I don't care."

"Don't leave," she whispered against his cheek, her nose brushing his. "Whatever happens, don't leave Al and me."

"Never. I'll never leave."

* * *

><p>Kate woke up first, blinking into awareness in the sunlight. Her entire right side was warmer than the left and she figured that the fact she was laying on top of Castle had everything to do with that. Her head was cushioned on his shoulder, hand curled up on his bare chest, hair tumbling over the arm that was holding her against him.<p>

His eyes were still closed, mouth open as he slept.

She knew there was no way she was escaping without waking him up. So she shifted, hooking one of her legs over his, and twisted strands of his hair between her fingers.

He hadn't left. He still hadn't left.

"You're thinking too much."

Kate smiled as his eyes opened, meeting hers instantly. "No, I'm not."

"You are. I can see the little thought bubbles coming out of your ears," he said, moving so that he can trace the shell of her ear. "What're you thinking about?"

"Nothing. Everything." She ducked her head down, brushing a kiss over his lips. "Morning."

In a smooth motion, he swung over her, his hips pressing her into the mattress. One hand circled under her neck, thumb settling at the pulse point in her throat. "Morning, Kate."

Neither of them moved, their foreheads touching, eyes closed. She had thought things would be weird but they weren't. Different, yes. But weird, no.

His next three words sealed the absolute rightness of this relationship shift.

"Want some coffee?"

Pushing her head up off the pillow, Kate let her cheek rest on his, her mouth next to his ear. "I'd love some."


	38. Chapter 38

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>She missed him. God, she missed him.<p>

Not just the warmth of his body against her back, stuck to her skin from sweat, or waking up to the smell of coffee and bacon as he chatted with her daughter over pancakes. Not just the stolen kisses in the break room even though she told him, she *told* him, not to do that. But she also missed the crazy CIA conspiracy theories that he spouted off as if they couldn't be anything but the truth. And movie nights where Al sat sandwiched between them on his couch, his fingers teasing her curls behind Al's head. Coffee dates at their shop, sharing cupcakes between the three of them, fighting over the flavors they'd get even though they'd always end up with vanilla and chocolate peanut butter.

Kate rubbed her feet over one another under the sheets, stretching her arms over her head. Her fingertips brushed the item on her side table on their way back to her sides. The egg on the table wobbled but didn't fall. She rolled over, cushioning her head on her elbow, watching as it re-centered itself.

Then it tipped toward her, staying on its side for a moment before standing upright again. The movement made Kate smile.

* * *

><p>He set the twin eggs on the counter with a grin.<p>

"What are those?" she asked, pouring out coffee for them both, sliding the pot back into its spot before opening the fridge to get juice out for Al.

He leaned his head on his fists, watching her move around the kitchen. "A present."

That earned him a raised brow as she placed his mug in front of him, skirting him to give Al the glass of juice as she did homework at the table. "You bought me eggs? As a present? How romantic, Rick."

"Hey! You are in no position to be picky," Castle protested, wrapping his hands around the coffee mug. Too hot to drink, especially in the still-sticky heat of early September. "A present is a present."

Kate, though, took a sip of the coffee, propping her hip against the counter and smiling over at him. "Okay. I'll make an omelet with them in the morning and think of you."

Castle gathered the eggs closer to him, protective. "Oh no! You don't eat these eggs!"

"What do you want me to do then? Hatch them and look after the chicks until you get back from your tour? Planning on opening a baby animal petting zoo?"

"Babies?" Al asked, turning around in her seat, eyes bright.

Kate saw Castle's eyes go wide for a moment before he grinned. "Nope. Something even cooler." Leaving the eggs on the counter next to his coffee, Castle went to scoop Al up onto his hip, eliciting a peel of giggles from the girl as she wrapped her arms around his neck. "Look."

With a single finger, he poked the side of one of the eggs. A few inches away, the other egg mirrored the motion.

"Mom!" Al gasped, looking from Castle to her mother. "Rick's a wizard."

"Pretty cool, huh?" he asked, setting his finger on the top of the egg closest to him, tipping the item onto its side and watching as the other did the same. "They're for you. Both of you, actually. I'm going to be gone for a week and a half. I'm gonna miss you. These are just a way for you to know I'm thinking about you."

Al reached out a hand and Castle shifted so that she could hit the egg. When they moved together, she squealed.

"They work across distances?" Kate asked, tapping the other egg and seeing the one near her daughter wiggle.

He nodded, picking up his coffee with his free hand, taking a sip. "Yeah. I mean, I haven't tested them from here to Los Angeles or anything, but they're supposed to." With a smile, Castle looked over at her. "You know. Just in case you miss me too."

"I won't." He blinked. "Miss you. Won't miss you one bit. In fact, I'm happy you're leaving. Finally giving us some peace and quiet."

Her straight face concerned him for a moment. She could see the hurt flash across his features as she calmly sipped at her coffee, peering at him from over the edge of the mug. "Wh-what?"

"Well, it's been a little livelier around here than normal since we met you. Could use the silence, you know?"

"Mom?" Al looked just as upset, her eyes shining with tears rather than excitement now.

Then Kate broke out into a smile, eyes squinting with amusement. "Kidding! Kidding, you two! Oh so serious. They're fantastic, Rick."

* * *

><p>She reached out and touched the egg again, rocking it back and forth in the sunrise light peeking through her blinds. "Miss you, too, you sweet, foolish man."<p>

Her alarm was set to go off in fifteen minutes but she was awake and wouldn't be able to get back to sleep for a measly fifteen minutes. So instead of rolling back over, pulling the sheet up over her head, and watching the light increase slowly as the sun rose over the island, Kate jumped into the shower. Fifteen minutes gave her just enough time to wash her hair and shave before she'd have to get Al up for school.

With her hair tied up in a messy knot, she pulled on a pair of grey trousers and a deep red sweater to fight off the faint chill from the wind before waking Al up. She set Al up at the dining table with a glass of orange juice, an apple cut up into wedges, and a bowl of Lucky Charms cereal, the girl singing a song to herself as she ate.

"When's Rick comin' home?"

Taking the toast from the toaster oven, Kate smeared raspberry jam over one side. "Tomorrow morning."

"How many hours?" Al asked, an apple wedge in one hand, her spoon in the other with marshmallows floating in the milk.

"Twenty-three."

Al deflated, letting the spoon clatter against the side of the bowl. "So long…"

"Don't whine, Alexandra."

That had her daughter quieting; use of her full name meant 'don't push Mom' and Al knew that. Kate ate the toast as she gathered up Al's school stuff, putting the notebooks and glittery zippered bag of pencils and crayons and markers into the backpack. "Don't worry, Al. He said he'd try and stop by before you went to school so you'd be able to see him. No promises, though." She set the backpack near the door. "Might have to wait until we pick you up tomorrow."

Al didn't look happy but she knew not to open her mouth, especially after Mom had already scolded her. "Okay."

"Come on, kid. Get your shoes on so we can get you off to school."

Kate slipped her heels on, swung on the light khaki coat, and looped the dusty blue scarf around her neck. Before herding Al out the door, she unlocked the safe in the office, transferred her gun to the holster at her hip, sliding the clip into her pocket. Al was bouncing on her feet next to the door, the sandals she still insisted on wearing squeaking on the hardwood.

The ride uptown to the school was quick, a phenomena that Kate couldn't explain since most of the commuters should have been out at this hour. She walked Al to the front door, bending down to give her daughter a tight hug, lifting Al up off her feet for a moment.

"Love ya, kid," she whispered into Al's brown curls.

Al patted Kate's cheek. "Love you too, Mom."

* * *

><p>Turned out that those moments outside of the school were her only bright point in the day. At least, until she was back at the pre-school and picking Al up again. The case they had picked up that morning was a mess that she and the boys hadn't been able to figure out no matter how many times they rearranged the information on the murder board.<p>

They had given up when Kate said she needed to leave to get Al. Esposito had practice for the softball team he coached and he insisted that he could use the extra time before he had to be at the diamond to go for a run. Ryan had a date with a new girlfriend, Jenny, and he hadn't figured out where he was bringing her for dinner yet.

So they broke off, going in separate directions outside of the precinct.

Kate had stopped at the corner store, picking up peanut butter and fluff for sandwiches that night, before getting Al. She chatted with Gianna, leaning against the chain-link fence at the playground as they waited for the girls to come out of the building. Maria was turning six next week and Gianna wanted to know if Al could come to the party, a sleepover.

"Yeah. I mean, if Al wants to go, it's okay with me," she said, hands shoved into her pockets, feet crossed at the ankles in front of her. "I think she'd like that."

Al collided with Kate's knees a moment later. "How many hours?"

"Thirteen."

Gianna smiled but Kate could see the confusion.

"We're waiting for Rick to get home," Kate clarified.

The other woman nodded. "How is he?"

Kate shrugged. "Busy, probably. It's his last day out west so I'm sure they're scrambling to wrap things up." She hadn't shared exactly who Rick was or his job or why he was spending a week and a half on the road but Gianna didn't push for details. "Have a good afternoon, Gianna, Maria."

"So," Kate said, buckling Al into the backseat. "Want to go over Maria's for a sleepover next week?"

"Yes! Can I? Because Maria wants me to and I want to do a sleepover!" Al exclaimed, banging her heels against the seat.

"Sure. We'll go present shopping this weekend. Maybe Rick can come," Kate said, pulling out into traffic.

Al sighed. "Best mom ever."

* * *

><p>He used the spare key she had given him, closing the door with a click. Dropping the suitcase on the rug in her living room to muffle the sound, Castle slipped his shoes off to pad down the hall. He passed Al's room, her nightlight shining from the cracked door, to Kate's room.<p>

She was sprawled out on the bed, taking up the entire area. Her hair was a dark tangle over the pale teal sheets, one hand peeking from under the sheets, curled up against her chest. Every few breaths she snored once.

Castle paused in the doorway, watching. He had planned on sleeping on the couch, surprising them with breakfast in the morning. But when she shifted, sighing in her sleep, he made a different decision. Instead of scrunching up on the couch for the night, he moved into her room.

He placed a knee on the bed near her hip, saw her body roll toward him a little. With a hand braced on the headboard, he gave her a soft, gentle kiss.

Kate's eyes fluttered open, immediately aware even in the darkness. "Rick?"

"Hey, beautiful," he murmured.

She sat up, nearly hitting their heads together. "What're you doin' here? Not supposed to be back 'til morning." Her voice was thick with sleep, eyes drooping shut before she snapped them open again. A hand came up to rub at her eyes, trying to force alert into them.

"Plane got in early." The lie earned him a raised brow and a small glare. "Okay. I switched flights. Missed you too much. Besides, they didn't need me after I finished the last signing this afternoon."

When he crawled onto the bed so his knees straddled her thighs, Kate flopped onto her back, peering up at him. She lifted a hand, smoothing it over the stubble on his jaw, pausing with her palm to his cheek. "Missed you too."

Another quiet kiss, their foreheads resting on one another, breathing the same air.

"Tired?"

He hummed. "Jetlagged."

Kate flipped the sheets up, patted the bed. "Come on. Into bed."

Castle got up, tossed the button down and dress pants into the corner before settling in under the sheets. He gathered her up, hugging her face into his neck, arms hooked around her shoulder blades. Doing the one thing he had dreamed of doing for the past eleven days: just holding her.

"Didn't think I'd miss you this much. Wasn't sure I'd remember how to truly miss a man," she whispered, the words skating over the skin at his collarbone. Then she raised her head enough to see those blue, blue eyes in the darkness. "Thanks."

"For what?"

"For helping me remember."

She was exhausted, her eyes closing of their own accord before she forced them open again. She wanted to talk to him, to hear stories of the U.S. book tour, of how people received Nikki. "How'd it go?"

Castle's fingers stroking over her scalp through her tangled hair was enough to push her into sleep. "Really, really well. And I'm not just saying that. Got a call from Paula before I boarded the plane saying that _Heat Wave_ is going to debut at number one on the New York Times Bestseller list next week."

Kate shifted enough to kiss him, a smile on her lips. "That's great!" she said quietly. Then she resettled her head against his shoulder, twisting her legs with his under the single sheet.

"Do I get congratulations sex for that?" he asked, running a finger over her shoulder.

She hummed, the vibrations rippling down his throat from where her mouth was. "Maybe tomorrow night. Tired now."

"I could do all the work."

"Oh, but where's the fun in that?" she murmured. "Wouldn't you rather have an active partner in celebratory sex, Rick?"

He groaned, setting his cheek on her hair, the strands tickling his nose. "You're gonna kill me, Kate."

"Shush. Work in the morning. Need sleep."

"Can I come to work tomorrow with you?"

Kate shrugged, snuggling deeper into the pillows. "Don't care."

Castle lifted his head up, sliding his lips over hers. "Night, Kate."

"Night, Rick."


	39. Chapter 39

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>Yeah, maybe tackling the suspect hadn't been the best idea she had gone with all day. But the guy was sitting in lock-up waiting for arraignment in the morning and the case was closed, sent off to the district attorney.<p>

Except now, she was laying out on her couch, facedown, head pillowed on her forearms, as Mulan played on the television. Al was sitting at Kate's feet, coloring in a coloring book, crayons spread over the cushions of the couch. Kate's eyes kept drifting closed, her teeth gritted against the pain shooting through her lower back. Definitely not an intelligent choice to tackle the man.

Someone knocked and Al rolled off the couch, clutching the coloring book to her chest. "Mom! Door!"

Kate pushed up off the couch, her back protesting at the movement but taking a deep breath. As she walked past Al, she handed the girl one of the crayons that had fallen off the couch. "Let's see who's visiting."

But she knew it could only be Castle. So when she opened the door and found him on the other side, she smiled. "Hey, you."

"Hey," he said, stepping forward to pull her into a hug. She hissed when he squeezed her tightly against his chest. "What's wrong?" His voice went from carefree to concern in the course of a second.

"Nothing."

"Mom hurt her back," Al exclaimed from the living room, a handful of crayons in one hand. "Hi, Rick!"

Castle kept his fingers twined with Kate's as he leaned down to press a kiss to Al's cheek. "Hello there, kid. How you doin'?"

"Coloring."

"Can I see?"

Al turned away, grinning cheekily. "No." Then she bounced off to sit on the ground in front of the couch, opening the book again, and setting crayon to paper. "No looking."

"'Course not," he murmured. Then he turned to Kate, eyes narrowed. "What happened?"

Kate pulled her hand from his, circling over to the counter to reach up for a glass. "Nothing." She felt him crowd her from behind, arms wrapping around her waist as he placed his chin on her shoulder.

"Don't lie."

She sighed, the glass clicking as she set it on the granite countertop. "Tackled a suspect today. Ended up twisted weird and might have strained my lower back." In the circle of his arms, Kate turned, smiling faintly. "Can't move without wanting to curl up into a ball."

His hand cupped her cheek, fingers stroking over her skin softly. "Oh, Kate."

"I've had worse." When he raised a brow, Kate narrowed her eyes. "Really. I pulled muscles all of the time when I was pregnant with Al." She pushed one of his arms away, going toward the bathroom, hearing him following her. "I just need some Advil and rest."

Then he ducked ahead of her, stopping in front of her. "I'll get it. Go lay on the couch."

Instead of fighting him on it, Kate gave his forearm a gentle squeeze before turning back to the living room. She felt like an old lady, a hand on the small of her back as she sat on the couch, nudging Al's knee with her toes.

"Whatcha coloring down there, kid?"

Al threw herself forward, covering up the coloring book. "Secret, Mom! No looking!"

Kate pursed her lips in a smile as Al scooted so that she was facing away from her mother, protective of the page and crayons.

"Here, Kate." Castle had reappeared at her back, handing her two Aleve pills and the glass of water she had been getting in the kitchen. "Aleve will last longer. You can have some Advil in four hours or so."

"I don't need to be babied," she said, taking the pills and swallowing them with a sip of water anyway. "I'm a big girl."

"Still. It's nice to be cared for once in a while. Right, Al?" he asked, grinning down at the girl.

Al shrugged, too busy with her own devices to answer.

Castle gave Kate's shoulder a gentle shove. "Onto your stomach." He waited until she stopped glaring and shifted so she was back in the earlier position.

She watched as Mulan climbed up the wooden post in the training camp, proving Shang wrong, and heard the microwave going in the kitchen. What he could be doing, she had no idea.

Until something hot, really hot, settled over her lower back. Kate hissed, squirming away while turning her head to look back at him. "What the-? Rick?"

He put a hand on her shoulder, keeping her on her stomach. "Heated pillow I found in your linen closet."

"You went in my closet?"

"Details. Besides, I didn't peek," Castle said, waving his hand in a movement eerily similar to his mother. "Anyway, the heat will make your muscles feel better. Now scoot your feet a little so I can watch Mulan with my best girls."

Kate did move her feet, dropping her right one onto the ground to give Castle room to sit at the end of the couch. He was right about the heat; the warmth was spreading up her back and along her sides, loosening the muscles. She hadn't used this trick since she was pregnant, stealing the heated blanket from her dad's place and wrapped herself up in it to halt the shooting pain in her lower back.

Her eyes drifted closed as she snuggled her head into the throw pillow on the couch.

"Better?" he asked, fingers squeezing her calf right below her knee.

She hummed. "Heading that way." Kate rolled, a hand reaching back to make sure the pillow stayed in place so that she was on her back. "Not to sound rude but why're you here?"

"Trying to get rid of me so soon after playing nurse for you?" She narrowed her eyes, arching up when the heat hit a nerve when she shifted. The expression on his face changed from teasing to aroused in a flash before he tried to tamper down the latter knowing she had seen the darkening of his eyes.

"Duh. I'm only using you for your healing abilities." Kate swung her leg back up onto his lap, nudging his thigh with her toes. "Seriously, Rick. Why'd you drop by?"

Suddenly, she didn't care. He pressed his thumb into the arch of her foot and Kate couldn't hold back the little moan that escaped as her head tipped back. "You have a larger Disney movie collection than I do."

"You missed Al and me. Admit it," she murmured, letting her eyes drift shut.

"Not much of an interrogation right now, Detective." Castle grinned, poking Al with his toe. "Al, my girl, tell Mom that I'm allowed to come visit to watch Disney movies with you."

This time Al did turn around, pulling herself up on her elbows on the couch so she could place her chin on Kate's stomach. "Mom, don't you want Rick around?"

Between the two pairs of puppy-dog blue eyes staring her down, Kate knew she had no chance. "Of course I do. I just-"

"Just nothing. Al and I win," he said, high fiving the girl with his free hand. "Now shush so we can watch Mulan kick some Hun butt."

So Kate turned her head to see the television, not minding that Castle gave her feet a little pat to move them so that Al could jump up onto his lap. She had the coloring book balanced on their knees, Castle holding the crayons flat on his palm as if feeding a horse carrots, letting Al pick and choose the colors she wanted. They were hiding the book itself from Kate's eyes, whispering secretively between themselves.

The whole thing felt right. The three of them, cuddled on the couch, watching TV. She could sense that he'd insist on making dinner, probably enlisting Al's help while making sure that Kate wouldn't move from the couch after he re-heated the pillow under her back.

The thought, while making part of her heart leap like a Mexican jumping bean, also freaked her out. New territory mostly, because none of the dates between that night and meeting Castle in the coffee shop had stuck around long enough to get to know Al never mind find their way into her home to curl up on the couch with Kate and her daughter.

"They're singing about the Beckett women."

She looked up when Castle spoke, saw his quiet smile. "What?"

He nodded toward the television even as Al changed out crayons. "A girl worth fighting for. That's you and Al." Shifting the crayons from his left to right hands, he reached out to curl his fingers around her knee. "I'd fight for you."

"Me?" Al asked, climbing over his lap to get a pink crayon while dropping a green one into Castle's palm.

"You, too."

Kate shifted up further on the pillows, burrowing her foot in between the cushions on the back of the couch. "You'd take on the Huns for Al and me?"

"Sure. Whatever it takes," Castle said, shrugging. "You two are worth it. The only other person I'd do that for is Mother. My three girls. You almost done with that, kid?" he asked Al, eyes lingering on Kate for a moment before he looked at the picture.

"'Most…" Al trailed off. She had her tongue between her teeth, a little stripe of dark pink between her lips as she concentrated on her strokes on the paper. When Kate leaned over, Al pushed her away. "No looking, Mom!"

"Must be some picture," she muttered, rolling her neck, letting her head settle on the back of the couch so she could look over at Castle who mouthed 'it totally is' to her with a grin.

His arm draped over the cushions so he could play with the ends of her hair, twisting the strands into long ropes before watching them spin back into place. "What do you want for dinner?"

Called it, she thought. "Food."

"Helpful. Narrowing down the choices."

"How about edible food?"

"Even better." Castle dropped his hand to run over Al's head. "Hey, best girl. What you feeling for dinner?"

"Hot dogs and mac-and-cheese!" It was Al's new favorite dish and Kate wasn't surprised to hear the suggestion come out of her daughter's mouth. Kate had added the boiled hot dogs a few weeks ago to the mix and Al fell in love. "Please, Mom!"

Kate glanced at Castle, smiling. "Think you can handle that, Top Chef?"

Castle scooped Al up, depositing her back on the end of the couch with a giggle. "I'll do my best."

Another strange thing. He didn't have to ask where her pots and mixing spoons and pasta were kept. She could hear him moving in the kitchen, switching the stove on, filling two pots with water to boil, and taking out the block of cheddar from the fridge to cut up. She wanted to get up and help him, not because she was possessive of her kitchen, but because she knew how well they worked together, that working as a team would make things go faster.

"Don't even think about moving from that couch, Katherine Beckett," he warned as if reading her mind. When she looked over the back of the couch, he was pointing the large metal spoon at her. "I've got this. And if I need help, I'll get Miss Al to come to my aid."

So Kate moved the heated pillow further up her back so it rested just below her shoulder blades and gave Al a little kick with her ankle. "You gonna rescue Rick if he gets hurt in the kitchen?"

"Mhm. 'Most done, Mom. Then I'll rescue."

"Girl's got priorities," Castle said, pausing the cutting of cheddar cheese to wink at Kate. "Coloring first, men later. I'll remember that."

Two minutes later, Al had finished the coloring page, closed up the book, and gone to help Castle in the kitchen, giving the job of telling him when the hot dogs had started floating on the top of the water. He had set her up on a chair from the dining table, close enough to see the pots but far enough away to not worry about her burning herself. She held the metal spoon, hitting it against the counter in a syncopated rhythm. Castle was draining the macaroni, putting it back on the heat to add the cheese to the mix, melting the cheddar over the curly noodles.

"Hope you're hungry, Kate. Gonna have lots of leftovers," he called, stealing the spoon from Al's hand to mix the macaroni and cheese.

Mulan was busy saving her fellow soldiers in an avalanche so Kate shrugged. "I'll bring some to the precinct. I'm sure the boys would like some comfort food."

They resumed their positions on the couch, Al sandwiched between them, bowls of macaroni and cheese with hot dogs on their laps as Mushu and Cricket demanded firepower from a friendly citizen. Castle had reheated the hot pillow and Kate had finagled her shirt so she could sit up and still have the warmth along her back. Castle's fingers were resting on the nape of her neck, tickling the soft little wisps of hair as they ate.

"What was on the drawing?" Kate asked as Shang reappeared at Mulan's family house with her forgotten helmet.

Al finally flipped open to the page she had been laboring on all afternoon.

It was a picture of a park with flowers everywhere, some drawn in with her little five-year-old fingers. A blanket of color with a bright yellow sun in the corner wearing sunglasses, a touch she figured Castle had insisted on during their secret whispering sessions. In sloppy handwriting that was all Al's own, she had written out "Love you, Mom and Rick." Sure, the 'y' was facing the wrong way but the five words had Kate's heart doing a weird somersault.

The quick glance over at Castle told her that he hadn't seen those words when he had gone to start dinner. His eyes were wide, the smile lighting up his entire face and Kate could only assume her face was a mirror image.

"See?" asked Al, taking another bite of the mac-and-cheese. "Flowers for you."

Kate leaned down, felt the hot pillow slip but didn't care, and smacked a kiss against Al's cheek. "Thank you, kid. It's beautiful."

She felt Castle's hand settle on her shoulder and Kate reached up to press his palm to the joint. "My best girl has talent. Both of my Beckett girls do."

"Not yours!" Al exclaimed, turning a glare on Castle.

He held his one hand up in defense. "Of course not. No one owns you girls." But he did tilt his head so it rested on the cushions behind Al, eyes locked with Kate's. "Still love ya, you know."

She stabbed a macaroni and held it out to him. "I do know. What movie are we doing next?"

"Pocahontas," Al decided without a beat. Then she gave Castle a shove. "Go put it in please."

"As you wish, my lady," he said with a straight face. He only grinned when he looked back at Kate and saw her trying to hide a smile of her own. "As you wish."


	40. Chapter 40

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>"Plans for tonight?" Castle asked, setting her mug of coffee at her elbow before sitting next to her desk.<p>

Kate picked up the mug after spinning the handle around so her palm was completely against the porcelain. "I have a date." His face, even from the corner of her eye, is completely shocked. Mouth gaping, eyes wide open, brows furrowed. She played with the idea of drawing out the minor torture that she could inflect upon him with the simple statement but he started opening and closing his mouth as if he could not find the right words. "With take-out food, my pajamas, and my boyfriends Ben and Jerry."

"Not sure I like you having two other boyfriends," he muttered around his own cup of coffee.

She reached over and patted his cheek with a smile. "Oh, calm down, Castle."

He was silent as she went back to filling in the report form for the case they had just closed. "So, why're you spending the night in the company of Vermont's finest rather than with that charming daughter of yours?" he asked, leaning his chin on the heel of his hand and studying her carefully. It used to be creepy, the way his eyes seemed to memorize her facial expressions but now it was almost comforting. Like he had her back.

"Al's going to a sleepover for her friend Maria's birthday. Got the place to myself."

He scooted closer, his breath curling over her cheek. "Care for some company, Beckett?"

"Are you really inviting yourself over to my place tonight?" she asked in disbelief.

"Uh…" he started, searching her face for a sign that she was joking. Of course he finds nothing; she's trained for this. Plus she likes playing with him when she got the chance. "Yeah. Kinda."

Kate nodded, sat back into her chair with a smile. "That's tough. Pedro's coming over."

"Pedro?" he exclaimed, bolting out of the chair. "Who's Pedro?"

Most of the bullpen had stopped, eyes turning in the direction of Kate's desk while trying to look like they weren't actually staring. The uniforms rushed back to work when Kate glared but Ryan and Esposito continued to gawk. She even saw Montgomery peeking out through the window of his office.

Kate shrugged, turning back to the D5 on her computer. "My Spanish lover."

"Your what? How could you- I mean, why would you go and- Beckett?" Her last name came out as a strangled whine as Castle sat back down in his chair, running a hand through his hair.

She got up, grabbing her mug. "I need coffee. Want some?"

Castle was back on his feet jogging after her in a flash. "Hey! You didn't answer anything!"

He shut the break room door behind them, crowding her up against the peeling linoleum counter, his hips holding her in place.

"Castle…" she warned. They had rules, rules that stated that none of *this* was to happen at work. The steel in her voice was wavering and weak, melting slowly from the heat of his body so very close to hers.

"Tell me, Kate," he murmured softly into her ear, visible since she had clipped her hair back in a lobster clasp after the wind had tangled it.

First name. Another broken rule.

"Go away," she returned, giving him a firm push on his shoulders.

The motion just made him sway closer, a foot between hers and a knee wedging between her thighs. "Kate…"

Then she went ahead and broke the rules further. Standing on her toe tips, heels of the sneakers she had worn in to work that day lifted off the ground, Kate brushed her lips over his cheek before whispering, "You are such an easy mark, Rick." As he stood in shock, she ducked out of his arms to calmly pour her coffee. "Want some?" she asked, holding the pot up between them.

"None of that drek," he said, starting up the espresso machine without looking at her.

Kate leaned her hip against the counter, mug held in both her hands despite the heat coming off the porcelain, and watched him steadfastly avoid her gaze. "Rick, what's wrong?"

He shook his head. "Nothing."

"Liar."

That had him turning, finally meeting her eyes. "What?"

"You're lying. Seriously, Castle. I was teasing, joking." Kate stepped closer to him, snagging his wrist when he moved back from her. "Answer me one question. Do I seem like the type of girl to cheat?"

Castle shifted, linking his fingers with hers. "No. No, you don't." He took the mug of coffee from her hand, put it on the counter before pulling her into a hug. "Sorry for overreacting."

"Want to come over tonight? Make it up to me?" she muttered against his shoulder with a smile.

"I'd love to," he responded. "Here," he said, handing her coffee back before taking his espresso from the machine. "Let's go finish your paperwork."

Kate followed, grinning. "You're gonna help me with paperwork?"

"Oh, did I say that? I meant, 'you come on and finish your paperwork while I watch you and whisper encouragements'. That's what I meant."

"Mmm… You know. Pedro would help me with my paperwork," Kate said with a wink.

He glared.

* * *

><p>They left early from the precinct – Kate had to swing by her apartment to pick up the bag Al had packed for the sleepover before heading to the school to drop the bag off with Al, Maria, and her mother Gianna.<p>

"Can we stop for coffee?" he asked, a single level of excitement from bouncing in the passenger seat.

"No."

"What about on the way back from the school?"

"Maybe."

That appeased him for the route from her apartment to Al's preschool. Instead of chatting her ear off, Castle played with the radio station, changing songs every time he didn't like the song. They went from Top 40s to R&B to rock. Each time, Kate heard him singing along under his breath, even to the Tchaikovsky that he seemed pleased with on the classical channel.

Gianna had gathered the group of girls heading to Maria's party together, a barely contained bundle of bright t-shirts and shorts next to the playground. Kate parked across the street, reaching back for Al's lime green and pink duffel bag but Castle had already snagged it, looping it over his shoulder as he jogged across the road.

"Where's my girl?" he shouted, bending down to catch Al as she ran toward him.

Kate hung back at the edge of the gaggle of girls, watching as Castle settled Al on his hip. Al was waving her hands, fingers barely missing his face as she gestured. Then Kate saw Al's eyes shift off of Castle's face and search the crowd until she yelled, "Mom!"

"Oh, so I'm second in your heart now, kid?" she asked, taking Al from Castle when the girl reached out.

Al planted a kiss on Kate's cheek before cuddling her head into her mother's neck. "Love you, Mom."

"Mhm," Kate said, resting her cheek against Al's head. "Ready for your sleepover?"

"Need my bag," Al said, poker face in place as she pulled her head back to look at Kate.

"Which Rick has."

Al squirmed out of Kate's arms, tugging on the strap of the duffel bag. "Thanks, Rick!" When Kate just stared at her daughter, Al hugged her arms around Kate's knees. "You too, Mom."

"Go back to your friends, kid. Rick and I will pick you up at Maria's house tomorrow afternoon." Kate leaned down and pressed a kiss to Al's hair. "I love you, kid."

Al stopped and wrapped her arms around Castle's legs. "Bye," she said before bouncing off to Maria's side, bumping into another girl with blonde hair.

Castle linked his fingers with Kate's as they headed back to the car. "We gonna have our own sleepover?" he murmured before they broke off to get into the vehicle.

She turned the key in the ignition, shrugging. "Totally. I'll get dressed in one of those skimpy nightgowns, strap on my garter, and have a pillow fight with you." The slack-jawed expression on his face was worth every word. Kate laughed, shaking her head a little. "Seriously, Rick. All I want to do is eat take-out Italian in a pair of shorts and a tank top while watching a movie."

"Guess that works, too," he said, reaching over to trail his fingers over the back of her hand. "But there's always time to get you out of those pajamas, right?"

Kate hummed noncommittally. "We'll see, won't we?"

"New goal for the night." He braced his hand on the back of her seat, leaning over and taking the risk of kissing her on the mouth. "Get Kate Beckett out of her pajamas."

They did stop at the coffee shop after Castle called in their order from the Italian restaurant a block from her apartment. After the argument over who would pay, Castle let Kate run in and grab their coffees and two of the huge, soft chocolate chip cookies they loved as long as she let him pay for the dinner. She handed him the cups and white pastry bag before driving the last few minutes back to the apartment.

The apartment was steaming from sitting with closed windows for the entire day. Kate dropped her keys on the kitchen counter with her purse before running around the place to open those windows and let the barely-there breeze ruffle the pile of bills on the coffee table. Castle unpacked the Italian lasagna and side order of meatballs, pulling down plates from one of the cabinets and two sets of forks and knives from a drawer.

Kate paused, half-sitting on the back of the couch as she watched him transfer lasagna from the foil take-out container. In her kitchen. Like he belonged there. Sometimes it hit her and made her want to run in the opposite direction. This was not one of those times.

"I'm gonna change." When Castle moved to follow her with a wink, Kate stopped in the hallway, glaring. "You stay there. I'll never get into my pajamas if you weasel your way into the bedroom."

"Oh, but wouldn't you want me to weasel my way into-"

"Out, Rick!" she shouted with a smile that gave away her true feelings.

Five minutes later, she snuck up behind him in a long fitted tank and a pair of boyshorts. Snaking her arms around his waist and hugging herself against his back, Kate pressed an open-mouthed kiss to the curve of his neck. "Hey, handsome."

Fingers wrapped around her wrists, he brought her left hand up to kiss the heel of her palm. "Hey yourself. Ready for…" When he turned around, the words trailed off. "Oh my God, Kate."

"What?" she asked, moving around him to pick up her plate and fork. "You've seen me naked. This shouldn't be a shock."

"But I'll never, ever get used to it." He watched her walk from the kitchen to the living room, dropping onto the couch with a huff of breath that zipped through him. "Don't really want to, now that I think of it." Castle followed, sitting closely next to her.

"You're such a guy," she muttered, stabbing a quarter of a meatball and eating it. "All about the body."

He trailed a series of hot kisses up her bare shoulder. "I do adore your mind. More than your body, actually."

"Stop and eat your dinner. Kisses later."

"Oh so there will be kissing," he grinned.

"Maybe not even that if you don't shush and eat." Kate shook her head. "Goodness, you are worse than Al with eating dinner."

Castle took her plate from her, setting both of them on the coffee table before he gave her a push on the shoulder so she was stretched out on the couch under him. Before she could protest, he kissed her, running his tongue along the seam of her lips. She opened her mouth, letting him stroke his tongue along the roof of her mouth on a soft moan. Her fingers crept up, curling around his bicep as his lips travel down her jaw to her throat.

"Rick… dinner."

He hummed against the base of her neck, savoring the shiver that raced through her. "Later."

Kate turned her head to the side, trying to focus her mind on something other than how good it felt to have his fingers tightening around her waist, inching the tank top up so her stomach was bared. "Castle," she huffed out even as he trailed down to the thin skin of her chest. "Food's gonna get cold."

"We'll nuke it," he muttered against her collarbone, fingers dipping under the waistband of her underwear. "I do love you, Kate."

"Love you too, Rick. Now pick either sex, small talk, or food or I'll pick for you."

"Oh, definitely sex," Castle said, tugging her tank top over her head. "We can eat after."

Kate hooked a leg over his thigh and before he could stop her, she had flipped them. She grinned down at him, her hair falling out of her ponytail and tickling his face. "Here or in the bed?"

Looping his arm around her waist and tugging her down onto his chest with a hard exhale, Castle captured her mouth. "Here. Definitely right here."


	41. Chapter 41

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>The second Saturday in every month meant a day spent over at her dad's. Normally the day was reserved for just the Becketts and Castle had accepted that after the first Saturday he had been turned down for a lunch date with Kate and Al.<p>

This Saturday was different apparently.

* * *

><p>Friday night they tried breakfast-for-dinner, an array of omelets and sausage patties and French toast spread out on the dining room table. Castle came over earlier than usual to help get the food ready with Kate while Al pretended to be running a karaoke night, singing into a remote control along with Dora the Explorer on the television.<p>

"Her Spanish isn't half bad," Castle commented, reaching over Kate for a fork.

"Don't tell her that. She thinks we'll move to Spain or something if she hears she's doing well." Kate said it firmly but leaned a hip against the counter to watch the girl jump up on couch, totally into the song about going to the Willowy Tree, eyes radiating love. Then she pushed off the counter, picking up plates and silverware. "Al! Dinner's ready!"

Al clambered off the couch, tossing the remote between the cushions where it was sure to get lost, and climbed into her seat. "Then I can go to the Willowy Tree?"

Ignoring Kate's glare, Castle nodded, setting the plate of French toast down on the table in front of her. "With Boots and everyone."

"'Cept Swiper." Al spoke clearly, fixing him in a firm gaze. "He's bad."

"Of course," he said, tapping her nose lightly.

Kate brushed past him with the sausages, muttering, "What did I say about encouraging her?"

"To do it as often as possible because it's good for her imagination?"

He started to soften her up again when they sat down across from one another at the small table. With just his stocking feet, he tickled her ankle under the table, grinning when she squeaked in surprise.

"What's wrong, Mom?" Al asked as she dragged the piece of sausage through a pond of maple syrup.

Kate grinned, convincingly if Castle was going to judge, and shook her head. "Nothing, kid. Just forgot the food was hot." The last words were pointed directly at Castle, as was the narrowing of her eyes.

Wrong idea. His smiled in return, shrugging. "Not the only thing that's hot at the table."

Which earned him a kick to the shin. And didn't really stop him from repeating the motion up and down her calf, bared by her leggings that only reached her knees. Kate managed to hold back the little moans as his toes dug into the muscle, shooting pointed looks at him across the table but not moving her legs from his reach.

He helped clean the frying pans and bowls and silverware in an assembly line; Kate washing the dishes with Al handing them over the short distance to Castle who was on drying duty. But was he went to say goodbye to them, giving Al a fierce hug that had her screaming for mercy and Kate a rather tame kiss that tasted faintly of maple syrup, Kate did something out of the ordinary.

"Come over my dad's house tomorrow?"

"Really?" he asked, blinking in surprise as his fingers tightened on her waist, their only point of contact when Al was standing right next to them.

She sighed. "Yeah. You should come hang out with us."

"You sure? I know that's, like, you and Al and Jim's thing and I wouldn't want to intrude on-"

"I'm sure," she said, brushing a kiss over his cheek. "We'll pick you up around eleven."

* * *

><p>Kate and Al were cuddled up with Sadie on the floor, backs against the couch as they sounded out words of a book Al had pulled off of Jim's bookshelves.<p>

"Relax, Rick." Jim grinned from across the dining room table, sliding the cup of coffee closer to the writer. "Everyone likes you. Al especially." When Castle only blinked, Jim shrugged. "The thing with Katie is that even if she adored a man, if Al showed even the smallest amount of dislike for the guy, he'd be out. They've both kept you around and that proves something. You're different."

"Did the pressure just increase on me or lighten?" Castle asked with the barest of smiles, spinning the mug to pick it up by the handle.

Jim laughed, shaking his head. "Knowing my girls, a little of both, I should think." He leaned one arm on the table, edging closer to Castle so that neither Kate nor Al could hear the following words. "There is one thing I've been meaning to bring up with you and I don't want to offend you or anything but it needs to be cleared up."

Nerves shot through Castle's veins. He hadn't felt nervous in years, not since his first book reading. But now, faced with the father of the woman he was so sure he was going to marry, Richard Castle was absolutely terrified. "Uh. Yes?"

"You have really striking eyes."

Unsure of where Jim was going with the conversation, Castle nodded slowly. "I've been told that, yes."

"So does my granddaughter."

Ah. That's what he was implying. Castle sat forward, forearms on either side of the coffee mug as he turned his back to Kate and Al. "Mr. Beckett, as much as I'd like to say that Al is well and truly mine in the biological sense, I'm afraid that I can't claim any part of her existence. I was in Los Angeles with my girlfriend for the entire year before Al was born."

"Katie would say something about that being an air-tight alibi. Not that eye color is any way to figure out paternity but I thought we should just clear the air before you get a ring for my daughter or anything."

Jim said it so calmly, even accompanying the statement with a shrug of a single shoulder, that Castle nearly choked on his coffee. "Sir, I-"

"Calm down, Rick. Joking. Well, halfway joking actually. Just know that you have my permission, whenever the time comes up." The older man got up, moving toward the kitchen. "Anyone want cookies?"

Al scrambled to her feet, book and mother forgotten, as she ran into the kitchen. "Me, Grandpa! I want cookies!" Sadie got up, following the girl slowly, butting her head against Al's hip for a treat.

Castle walked past the girl as she reached up for the plate of cookies Jim was handing her and sat on the couch next to Kate, squeezing her shoulder gently. "Thanks for this."

She rested her hand over his, her fingers curling so the tips brushed his palm. "Same goes. Did Dad scare you off?"

"Nope."

"Good," she murmured, tipping her head back so he could sneak a kiss behind the cover of the couch cushions. "Cause I'd kinda miss you if you left."

Al reappeared, holding the plate of cookies out in front of Kate's face. "Cookies, Mom. Have some."

Kate took one of the M&M cookies, pressing a kiss to her daughter's cheek. "Thanks, kid."

Castle snagged two of the cookies before Al dashed away, biting off half of one.

"So, what'd he grill you on this time?" she asked, chewing thoughtfully on the corner of the cookie she broke off. "Because we've already crossed the 'intentions' talk off the list. What's left?"

He shook his head, tugging his hand from under hers but still letting it trail over her neck before sitting back into the couch. "Tell you later."

Kate looked confused, turning so she faced him, her finger still slipped between the pages of the Judy Blume book she and Al had been reading. "Should I be worried?"

"Nah." Castle waved her concern off, popping the other half of his cookie into his mouth. "Just more man-talk. Later. Promise," he said, nudging her with his foot.

Definitely talk later. Later when Kate's father was not headed over to play a game of Go Fish with everyone, his dog lopping along behind him to flop against Kate's side, her head cushioned on Kate's thigh, watching the others with warm brown eyes.

Because even though Jim was half joking, Castle thought as he shuffled the deck of cards while Al settled on his lap, little fingers trying to help tap the cards into line, there is definitely going to be a ring for Kate in the future. That is, as long as the girl handing cards out to her mother and grandfather is okay with it. Somehow, Castle doesn't see Al having a problem.


	42. Chapter 42

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>Something was ringing. Kate couldn't really hear it from under the blankets she had pulled over her head – the heating in the building wasn't on yet and October was cold already. Reaching one hand out from under the pile of blankets, Kate fumbled on the bedside table for the phone she knew was there, pulling it under the blankets to answer.<p>

"Did I wake you?"

She glared into the darkness. "Espo, it's… Well, I don't know what time it is but it's early. 'Course you woke me up." There was silence on his end of the phone before Kate sighed. "We have a case."

"Yeah. Got a piece of paper and pen nearby? At the Manhattan Music Museum. Got an ETA?"

"Give me an hour. Bye, Esposito."

Kate stayed hidden under the covers for another minute, savoring the warmth. Then she moved the phone out in front of her, the illumination making her eyes squint as she hit the speed dial for her dad; she hated to wake him up but someone had to be around when Al got up for school.

"It's early, Katie. What's wrong?" Jim asked softly on the other end of the phone. There was a muted 'woof' in the background that had to belong to Sadie.

"Nothing, Dad. I need someone to watch Al. Case just got called in." Kate rolled over, shoving her hair back from her face. "Want me to drop her off or you gonna come out here?"

"Either one, kid. Which is easiest for you?"

She pushed up out of bed, curling her toes against the chilly wood floors. "Don't care. I'll drop her off on my way in; the place is near you. I'll be by in, like, half an hour. Thanks, Dad."

"Don't mention it, Katie. See you in thirty."

Kate hung up, tossing the phone onto the unmade bed before searching through her drawers and closet for clean clothes. Buttoning the black pants she found hung in the closet, shirt laid out on the bed, Kate walked into Al's room. The only light was from her little night light, throwing stars onto the walls and ceiling, and it helped Kate avoid stepping on the pile of Legos Al had left out after last night's building session before bed time.

"Al, kid," Kate said quietly, shaking her daughter's shoulder under the deep violet comforter. Al moaned, rolled over even as she slapped at Kate's hand. Definitely her daughter – Kate had to listen to stories of how she fought against being woken up by her own mother and father in the morning. "Hey. Got to get up for a little, Al." Blue eyes blinked open, narrow in the dark. A facsimile of a glare, Kate thought. "Gonna go over Grandpa's for the morning."

Al turned and buried her face in the pillows. "Don't wanna. Wanna sleep, Mom."

I hear you, Kate thought with a sigh. "Listen. How about you sleep on the way to Grandpa's. Just tell me where your stuff for school is and I'll carry you out to the car."

Kate gathered up the backpack, found the brightly colored notebooks and pencil zip-case. In a plastic bag, she tossed in a pair of Al's jeans, two shirt choices, and a pair of black Mary Jane's for Al to change into before school. Piling everything in the hallway near the front door, Kate returned to her bedroom to shrug on the white shirt, pulling a navy blue blazer from the closet. She ducked into the bathroom to put on a light layer of make-up and brush through her hair before slipping into a pair of ballet flats, hooking the black heels on her fingers – carrying Al to the car parked on street-level would be dangerous to attempt in four inch heels.

Stuffing the heels, the gun she retrieved from the safe in the office, and her phone into her black work bag, Kate slung it over her shoulder, added Al's backpack, and looped the plastic bag of clothes into her elbow. Al was sitting on the edge of her bed, still looking half-asleep.

"Come on, kid. Off to Grandpa's," Kate said, hefting Al up onto her hip. Her daughter burrowed her head into Kate's curls, her nose pressing against her mother's neck as Kate grabbed her keys from the kitchen counter and locked the apartment behind them.

She buckled Al into the backseat of the unmarked cruiser, dumping the armload of bags in the passenger seat before getting in. Kate dug her phone from the side pocket of her purse and dialed Castle's number. It was early but the man would be heartbroken if she didn't tell him about a case. Navigating the light traffic New York had at all hours of the day, Kate waited until he answered with a sleepy "Hello?"

"Hey. We have a case."

She heard sheets ruffle as he sat up, heard a groan when he must have looked at the clock. "Seriously?"

"Yeah. You want me to pick you up in five or you gonna meet me at the precinct?" Kate asked, tapping her foot at the stoplight, red even though no one was coming from the other direction.

"Pick me up. I'll be waiting out on the sidewalk."

Kate re-routed toward SoHo, mentally planning a stop at the coffee shop after picking him up. They'd both need the caffeine to get through the morning and she could get her dad one of the danishes that he loved as payment for taking Al so early.

And Castle wasn't lying. He was huddled against the side of the building, hands in the deep pockets of his peacoat before he jogged over to the car. "Morning," he muttered as Kate tried to clear all of the bags off of his seat, tossing them into the backseat opposite of where Al was sleeping, head propped against the window.

"Morning," she responded, letting him capture her chin so he could kiss her briefly. "Sorry about the wake up call."

"Wouldn't have missed it for the world. We dropping her off at your dad's?"

Kate pulled away from the curb, squaring the block to get around the one-way streets. "Yeah. He's gonna bring her to school."

The coffee shop was just opening when Kate stopped across the street from the front doors. "Here," she said, reaching back for her wallet. "Go get us coffee and one of those raspberry danishes."

Castle pushed her offering of money away. "I'll cover this one. Want anything else?"

"Whatever you feel like." Kate still slipped the money into his pocket as he got out; they seriously needed to talk about the financial balance here before things got too bad with him buying everything. She glanced back at Al to make sure the seatbelt was still in place. The girl had her bare feet curled up under her body, the too-long pants of her "Puppy Love" pajamas featuring a spattering of dog bones and paw prints over the pants covering her toes while her fingers curled around the long-sleeves of the top, a puppy jumping into a pile of leaves printed on the front. Her hair was a mess and Kate hoped that her dad still had that brush and collection of hair barrettes hidden away somewhere.

Castle returned, putting the two coffee cups into the holder in the console while letting the two bags of pastries stay on his lap. "Next stop," he said, buckling his own seatbelt.

She insisted that he stay in the car as she ran Al up to her dad's apartment. With the backpack over her shoulder, bag of clothes in her elbow, and the bag with her dad's danish in one hand, Kate slid Al from the car. "Be back in two minutes."

The doorman of the building got the door for her, smiling as she hit the button for the elevator with her knee. Jim answered the front door, fully dressed and holding a mug of tea. "Hey, girls. She still sleeping?"

Kate nodded, dropping the backpack against the couch in the living room before walking down to the spare bedroom. "She didn't want to get up this morning. I hope it's not a cold the week before her birthday. She'd be miserable."

As soon as she was settled on the bed, Al curled up on her side, hugging the pillow to her face as she fell back into sleep. Kate closed the door a crack behind them, handing her dad the bag of clothes.

"I packed two shirts in case she throws a fit over one. I know you have some of her stuff here but she's getting to the point where she wants to pick her own clothes."

"I vaguely remember some of your clothing choices as a toddler," Jim commented, ignoring his daughter's little glare.

Kate put the pastry bag on the counter. "And there's payment." She pressed a kiss to her dad's cheek. "Thanks, Dad. I'll get her tonight."

Jim gave her a shove. "No payment necessary, though I do love those raspberry pastries. Go solve a crime, kid."

"Love you, Dad," Kate said, heading back out into the hall to run down the stairs. The doorman didn't have time to grab the door for her, looking confused as she jogged over to the car.

"Where's the murder?" Castle asked, sipping at the coffee and scrunching his face up when the scalding liquid hit his tongue.

Kate got onto one of the side roads, avoiding Fifth Avenue, as she watched for the right street sign. "Manhattan Music Museum. Esposito didn't give too many details."

"Interesting. Wonder if someone killed Beethoven with a poor rendition of his Symphony 7 or…"

"Something realistic," Kate interjected, stopping his theory session short. "Besides, wouldn't Beethoven have to have been a zombie in order to be killed again?"

"Detective Beckett, I had no idea you believed in zombies!" he said, grinning widely at her from the passenger seat. "That's absolutely lovely."

She didn't answer. He knew she didn't believe in zombies or ghosts or UFOs.

The museum was a few blocks from her dad's building, shining in the pre-dawn sun with red and blue and white lights flashing off of the windows of the surrounding buildings. Kate nosed her car as close as possible to the rest of the crowd, leaving her coffee in the car but reaching back for her purse to find her badge and gun in the depths.

"You know, the fact that you have a gun is so hot," he whispered in her ear as she passed him, holstering the weapon on her hip.

She shoved him, smiling as he stumbled a little, before giving their names to the uniform at the perimeter. Ryan met them at the door to the brick building, a brass plate stating that it was the home of the Manhattan Music Museum.

"Early morning calls are the worst," he complained, nodding toward the hallway, the three of them moving to the side of the hall when a horde of crime scene techs walk past.

"Part of the job," Kate reminded him, rounding a corner into a room filled with pianos situated next to clavichords and harpsichords. She wanted to trail a finger over the keys, hear the instrument climb up the octaves as she follows Ryan through the room and into the next chamber. Piano lessons as a kid remind her of how to play Amazing Grace, drone chords and all. "Who's our victim," she said instead of stopping to play the pianos.

Esposito was waiting just inside of the next area in the museum. "Director of the museum, a Mr. Nathaniel Paulhardt. Found this morning when one of the associate curators came to open the museum for the day."

In a room filled with string instruments, the yellow tape around the man's body on the floor is a stark contrast. Nathaniel Paulhardt was an older man, brown hair going grey at the temples, laugh lines at the corners of his mouth and eyes visible.

"And he was killed by bow?" Castle remarked, head tilted to the side to study the body.

Lanie walked in front the other room, clipboard against her thigh as she nodded. "Powers of observation say 'yes' to that statement, Castle. Mr. Paulhardt was stabbed using one of the bows found in the room." She pointed to the missing spot on the wall. "Perp used whatever he could get his hands on."

"So not a planned murder," Kate muttered, circling around Paulhardt. "Does he have a next-of-kin we can call? See if he had any personal enemies?"

"Working on it," Ryan said. "The curator, a Miss Abigail Williams, is in the brass room down the hall. She might be able to shed some light on exactly why he was killed."

Kate stepped away from the body, jerking her head toward Castle to get him to follow before Esposito stopped them. "There is something else you should know, Beckett." She raised a brow, glancing over to Ryan who shrugged. "Robbery might be stopping by the precinct later to collaborate on the case."

"Why?"

"Well, one of the Stradivari violas that the museum owns was stolen. Just letting you know that we're gonna have to work together on this one."

Kate sighed, nodding. "Of course we are. Come on, Castle. Let's talk to Miss Williams."

* * *

><p>Their white board was filling up slowly. The typical photos were clipped up, descriptions written out under each of them, and a timeline being worked out in different color markers. Kate had given in and eaten the muffin Castle had bought for her at the coffee shop, microwaving her coffee which had gone cold in the car. With a piece of the crusty top of the chocolate chip muffin in hand, she studied the board with Castle at her side, hoping that something would jump out at them to explain why the director of a music museum had been run through with a bow.<p>

"Maybe some musician wanted to borrow the viola and Paulhardt said no," Castle mused, sipping the coffee that he had transferred from the to-go cup into a mug.

"So the musician killed the guy and stole the viola?" Kate returned, raising a brow in his direction. "Seems a little over-the-top, don't you think?"

"Oh, I've seen people do a whole lot worse." The voice was unfamiliar, coming from behind them.

Kate and Castle turned to see another man standing on the other side of Kate's desk, hands in his pockets. She recognized him, faintly, from passings in the hallway or riding the elevator. His dark hair was mussed, probably from the repeated motion of running his hands through it. Still, Kate could tell that there was once hair gel in the man's hair, long gone now. Cool blue eyes watched them.

Kate pushed off the desk, circling around to stand in front of the stranger. "And you are?"

"Detective Tom Demming. Robbery," he said, holding out a hand. "I'm working as liaison for the Manhattan Music Museum case."

She shook the offered hand. "Detective Kate Beckett. And this is Richard Castle," she said, turning so that Castle could edge in between her and her desk.

"The writer?"

Castle shrugged, shaking Demming's hand a little firmer than strictly necessary. "On my better days."

Demming glanced from Castle to Kate, a brow raised at her choice of partner before he nodded toward the white board. "What do you have so far?"

Kate let her smile follow the other man as she stepped behind him. "Mr. Nathaniel Paulhardt was found dead this morning. Someone used one of the bows for a violin to run him through. Our medical examiner is working to find out if Paulhardt was drugged before being killed, but no word yet. We're running down enemies that might have wanted him dead. Maybe we can cross-check with the list you might have of potential thieves to see if there's a connect?" When she turned to face Demming, Kate found him standing much closer than expected. She blinked but didn't step back. Her eyes flicked down, focused on the man's lips before going north again to his eyes. "So? Do you have anything to bring to the table, Detective?"

As Demming rambled on about his team running down suspects with similar M.O.s and a fondness for musical instruments that might be popular on the black market, Kate could feel Castle edging closer and closer to her back. His fingers searched out the hem of her shirt under the blazer, sneaking under the white v-neck to touch her skin. Kate watched Demming's eyes drift to where Castle's arm disappeared under the fabric of the navy blazer but beyond a twitch of his mouth, Kate had to give him props for not reacting.

Trying to stop the masculine show of ownership before it got too far, Kate stepped forward, grabbing a marker from the well below the whiteboard. She snagged Demming's wrist, angling the legal pad in his hand with his research on it so she could see it. "Let me take down the names you have so far and we can see if things match up at any point." The marker squeaked as she wrote out the few names in the corner of the whiteboard, capping the marker and tapping it against her thigh.

"And I'll take your names." Demming took a pen from the mug on Kate's desk, grinning at Castle before sitting in the old brown chair next to the desk and scribbling out the names up on the white board.

Kate opened one of the top drawers, pushing aside the collection of pens and Post-It notes she stuffed in there, she found a pile of business cards wrapped up in a rubber band. Tugging one from the bundle, Kate flipped it over and took the pen from Demming's hand. "Here's my desk line and cell. Give me a call if you find anything?"

Demming nodded, still smiling as he tucked the card into the top of the legal pad. "Will do."

As the Robbery detective headed back toward the stairs, Kate sat in her chair with a gentle exhale. Castle had reclaimed his chair, glaring at Demming's back as the other man retreated. "He seems nice." Castle turned his glare to Kate, softening the expression when she raised a brow. "What?"

"Oh, nothing."

Ryan and Esposito got off the elevator, the former waving his notebook in the air as they circled the divider, signaling that they had hit a jackpot.

"Find stuff with our vic's next-of-kin?"

"You bet," Esposito said, taking the seat at the desk across from her.

Ignoring Castle's strange looks, Kate spun in her chair, leaning her forearms on the desk. "Share with the class. What did you find?"


	43. Chapter 43

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>The white board was a mess. Handwriting, scribbled out in whatever color marker the owner's hand managed to grab from the well, covered most of the surface. They had interviewed co-workers and visitors that some of the uniforms snagged from the museum who claimed to be frequent visitors and might know something. No one knew anything.<p>

Ryan and Esposito were hitting up some of their informants with fingers crossed that one of them was willing to spill on a priceless viola hitting the market today. Apparently there was quite a market for Stradavari instruments that might have been stolen from a museum.

"I'm gonna call Demming. See if he has anything new," Kate decided, setting the half-empty coffee mug down and picking the phone up.

Castle scowled but focused on his own phone as he was in the middle of a heated game of Words with Friends against some of his mystery buddies. His fingers might have been hitting the letters of the keyboard a little harder than needed but he didn't seem to care much for the safety of his phone.

"Demming, it's Beckett. Just wondering if you've…"

She heard her own voice echoing, a few seconds of delay. When she looked up, Demming was rounding the corner, phone falling from his ear.

"Hey," Kate said, hanging up the desk phone and spinning around to face him.

"Hey. I was just coming up to give you some stuff we found on a canvass of Paulhardt's apartment building." Demming edged onto her desk, his hip pushing aside some of their notes and folders piled on the corner. "Apparently there was a music student living in the building."

"So?" Castle spoke up, eyes stuck on Demming in a narrow glare that had both Kate and Demming blinking at him.

"So, the student wanted a job with Paulhardt at the museum and Paulhardt constantly turned her down. Said she wasn't right for the job." Demming leaned over, hand braced on the desk until he could see the white board. "Doesn't look like you have her up on the list there. Care to come with me and interview her, Detective?"

Kate let her eyes drift back to Demming from where she was scanning the board. Again, he was much closer than expected and Kate caught the hint of cologne, too strong. "Uh," she started, glancing at the clock in the corner of her computer screen. Al needed to be picked up and she hadn't told her dad that she couldn't get her. "I can't."

"Can't?" Demming quirked a brow, moving further away, back on the edge of the desk and not leaning across it. Withdrawing. "I can give you a ride if that's the issue."

She grabbed her keys, getting up. "Not the problem. I just, I need to do something first. Give me an hour?"

"I got it," Castle said, plucking the keys from her hand before she could tighten her grip. Dancing away from her reaching hand, he shook his head. "I'll handle this. Go interview people with Demming."

The three of them took the elevator down to the garage, a tense ten second ride from the fourth floor to below street level. Castle tried to twine his fingers with Kate's and after three attempts that had failed, she finally let him capture her hand against his thigh.

"Careful with the car, Castle," Kate reminded him as she broke off with Demming for his vehicle. "Last thing I need on my record is you breaking laws in my unmarked."

He jingled the keys. "Promise, Beckett. Good luck," he called as they headed in the opposite direction. He noted that Demming was edging closer than usual to Kate, that she laughed for a second before stifling the sound with the press of the back of her hand to her mouth.

Arrogant bastard, Castle thought as he found Kate's car and got in.

* * *

><p>He was sitting in his chair, Al having claimed her mother's in order to spin in slow circles. She had the baseball that made the rounds of the bullpen in her hands.<p>

Kate and Demming weren't back yet and Castle refused to let his writer's imagination run wild. Still, all he could picture in the darker, completely unrealistic corner of his mind was the two detectives flirting over coffee, giggling.

"Catch, Rick!" Al shouted suddenly, throwing the baseball at him.

The thud of the ball against his chest jolted Castle from the image of his… of Kate and Detective Slicked-Hair-and-Chiseled-Jaw sharing coffee. "Oof. Careful there, kid. I'm breakable."

Al fumbled off of Kate's chair, climbing up into Castle's lap a moment later to butt her head against his shoulder, laughing loudly enough to draw attention to them from around the bullpen. "No, you're not, silly!"

"You attacking my partner, Al?"

Castle had never been so happy to hear her voice. Looking over Al's head, he saw Kate getting off the elevator, Demming following her with a grin. "She is. Rescue me, Beckett!" Castle said dramatically, slumping in the chair as Al struggled to get off of him. "Vicious child!"

Kate ruffled Al's hair as she walked by on the way to the whiteboard. "You can handle yourself, Castle." She picked up the red marker, crossing off two of the names on their list. "Demming, this is my daughter, Al. Kid, that's Tom."

Still happily settled against Castle's chest, Al waved at Demming. "Hi, Tom!"

Castle's arm tightened around Al's waist, protective of the girl as Kate nibbled on the tip of her thumb, studying the board. Demming crouched in front of the chair, smiling at Al. "Hey there, Al."

The urge to get up, run to the break room with Al on his hip, and dragging Kate behind him was overwhelming. He wasn't worried, Castle told himself. He wasn't worried that Kate was going to abandon ship and go off into the proverbial sunset with a man she just met today. But damn, those cavemen-esque instincts of protecting his women were kicking in.

"You know, you remind me a little of my Nick."

That had Castle blinking in surprise, abandoning the other option he had been playing with: capturing Kate in one of those _Gone with the Wind_ kisses with Kate bent over his arm as he very publicly claimed the woman as his. Instead, he loosened his grip on Al's waist, letting her squirm forward to listen to the other man.

"Who is Nick?" Al asked, curiosity painted all over her face.

Demming sat back on his heels, one hand on Kate's desk for balance. "Nick's my son. He's got all these blonde curls," Demming said, reaching out to tweak one of Al's brown ringlets, making her giggle, "and big brown eyes."

Kate sat at her desk, pulling her own notebook closer to write down their findings. On a glance over to Castle, she caught his confused expression and only shrugged. "I'm going to get coffee. Want some, guys?"

When Castle raised his brows, she nodded. "Up we go, Al. Take over the command of the bridge," she said, setting Al on the desk chair. "Demming, you want something?"

The man stood, moving toward Castle's chair but stopping as soon as he saw Castle's glare. "Uh, coffee would be great, actually. Thanks." He leaned against the desk, already back into the story he was telling about the time his son got A.J. Burnett's signature on a baseball he caught on a home run.

Kate managed to elude Castle's reaching fingers until they got to the break room. As she pulled down three mugs, his hand slipped under her t-shirt again, five lines of warm pressure against her stomach, tugging her back against him.

"What's gotten into you?" she asked, a clip in her tone that told him that she was more than a little annoyed.

"You're fawning over him."

She turned, batting his hand away and immediately missing the heat. "Fawning? Over Demming? Castle, are you insane?"

He narrowed his eyes, shifting away to block her exit from the break room. "No. But I saw how you looked at him, Kate. What's going on?"

"Nothing. Nothing is going on between Demming and me. We're working a case together." She poured coffee out, adding milk and sugar to hers and stirring with one of the metal spoons piled in a drawer. "Departments have to work together when cases overlap. We don't know how to work robberies just like they don't know how to work homicides." Sliding her cup aside, she started putting sugar in Castle's mug, mixing it in. "And what do you mean, how I looked at him?" she asked, turning her eyes enough to see him in the corner.

"All flirty and… stuff," Castle said, losing steam and letting his hands fall to his side again. "You were flirting with him!"

"I was not."

"Then what was with the little glances, the smiles?" Castle pushed off from the counter, pacing the length of the room. "I'm not making those up, Kate. I'm not paranoid."

She sighed, tossing the spoon into the sink to wash later. "You want to know?" He raised a brow as if to say 'duh' so she nodded back toward her desk where Demming was entertaining Al with a game of catch. "He's divorced, raising their son alone. Nicholas is seven, a little older than Al, and Demming only gets to see him on the weekends, the rare holiday. It sucks." Kate shook her head, tucking the escaped strand of hair from the motion back behind her ear. "I can't imagine only getting to see Al on the weekends. The situation's different, with me not having a clue who Al's dad is, but single parenthood is the same all around. We shared stories, troubles we both faced.

"But, Rick," Kate said, touching her fingers to his wrist, drawing his eyes back up to hers. "That's it. Remember? No running. Either of us."

"Okay," he muttered, turning his hand over to let his fingers tickle her palm. "Okay."

He wasn't smiling, eyes still fogged with sadness and uncertainty and heartache. So she braced her free hand on the counter to boost up, feathering a kiss over his lips, breaking her rule. "He's a good guy, Rick. You don't need to like him, but try to be civil? At least until we close up this case."

Castle squeezed her fingers, releasing them to trail them down her neck. "You find anything out doing interviews with the musician?"

"Yeah. The girl's missing and her school has no idea where she is." Kate pours out the last cup of coffee, replacing the pot on the hot plate. "Got to go put out an APB and hope that someone sees her, calls it in." She picks up her mug, Demming's cup, and starts back toward her desk, brushing past him with a whispered "Behave."

"And that's how Nick got hold of Barnett's home run ball," Demming was finishing with a grin, tossing the baseball back to Al, softly so that she could catch it against her chest. "Pretty cool, huh?"

"Very cool," Kate said, handing him the mug. "It's just black; I wasn't sure how you took your coffee."

Demming smiled, blowing across the surface of the liquid to cool it. "Black, actually. Your daughter is a charmer, Beckett. Must be in those genes."

Kate scooped Al up, sitting on the chair before settling Al on her lap. "I'm rather fond of her, you know," she said, pressing a kiss to Al's cheek. "You two talk baseball the entire time, kid?"

"Can we go to baseball?" Al asked, eyes lighting up. "I want to go to baseball!"

"Sure. Maybe this weekend for your birthday? As a present?"

"Yes!" She turned back to Demming, holding up two hands, six fingers. "I'm turning six."

Demming grinned, sipping at the coffee. "All grown up. Listen, Beckett, I'm going to go back downstairs, work on narrowing down our lists. Let me know if anything hits on the APB on Charlotte Fairstein?"

"Will do. Thanks, Demming."

As she types out the APB to send to the precincts, Port Authority, and the airports, Al babbled about baseball to Castle, spinning the ball in her hands.

"Al, wherever did your love for such a silly game come from?" Castle wondered, nudging Al's leg with his knee.

She tossed the ball at him, hitting him in the chest before Kate could grab her arm. "Al! No throwing without telling!"

"Mom," she whined, turning to pin Kate with eyes that shone with tears. "He said baseball was silly! S'not silly!"

"No, it's not. But we don't throw things. Okay?"

Al stared at her defiantly for a few seconds before nodding. "'Kay."

Kate nodded toward Castle. "Apologize to Rick, Al."

"Sorry, Rick," she mumbled, twisting the corner of Kate's blazer in her hands. "Didn't mean to throw."

"Accepted, kid," he said, handing the baseball back to her. "I still want to know about the Beckett women's fascination with baseball."

Kate shrugged. "Genetic. Dad loves the game and I sort of grew up on it. Al and I haven't been to a game in years. But we'll go this weekend, see our pinstripes win again, right?"

"Right!" Al said, tossing her hands in the air, baseball staying safely in her lap. "Rick! Can Rick come to baseball, Mom?"

"If he wants," she said, taking the baseball and putting it back on her desk. "Ask nicely and see if he will."

The phone rang, interrupting Al's impassioned plea for Castle to join them at the baseball game. "Beckett. Really? No, that's great. We'll have someone meet your guys in the lobby. Thanks."

"Mom! Mom, he said 'yes' so can he come with us?"

She smoothed Al's hair down, nodding. "Definitely. Maybe Grandpa will be free, too."

"And Martha!"

"We'll see if Martha is around." She looked over her daughter's head at Castle. "Charlotte turned herself in at a different precinct out of guilt. They're transferring her over to be processed."

"Why'd she do it?" he asked quietly, unsure if Al needed to hear all the gruesome details of murder.

Kate shrugged instead. "We'll find out once she gets here. Ryan and Esposito can take the interview. Need to get this girl home and to bed!" she said, bouncing her knees so that Al squealed with delight. "Start planning the baseball game."

"Rick coming with us?" Al asked as Kate gathered up the keys and files that she wanted to finish writing up that night. Her D5s were mostly done, expedited with Castle around to read the information off to her as she typed, but there were a few left dangling. Working through the details before sitting down to write up the reports would be faster than trying to organize them on the spot.

Kate arched a brow at the man, a grin teasing at the corners of her mouth. "So? You coming home with us, Castle?"

"Duh. No where I'd rather be," he said.

"Let me just call Demming, let him know this is as good as closed," Kate said, digging in her pocket for the Post-It with the other detective's number on it. She walked away, dialing the number into her cell, holding a single finger up to Castle. It took less than a minute for her to return, tucking her phone back in her pocket. "Alright, team. Lift-off!"

On the walk to the elevator, Al between them, Kate finally let Castle snag her hand, raising it up to kiss the base of her thumb. Al ran ahead to press the elevator button, grinning at one of the uniforms waiting for the elevator as well.

"I never doubted you, Kate. You know that, right?"

Kate ran her thumb over his lower lip, nodding slowly. "I know. It was kinda sweet, seeing you try to defend my honor."

"Try? I think I did more than try," he returned, mildly offended as he grabs hold of Al's sleeve to stop her from running into another person already in the car.

"Oh yes, because all of the oh-so-subtle touches were definitely firming up the fact that we're together for the world to see. Must be the male genes that see that as defending a woman's honor."

"That must be it," he murmured, mouth just a little too close to her ear for public. "Thank you for correcting me, Detective."

Picking Al up onto her hip to keep the girl with them in the busy lobby of the precinct, Kate gave him a little nudge with her elbow. "That's the woman's job, right, Al? Be the one who is always correct."

"Duh," Al said, giving Castle a tiny push with her hand against his bicep. "We're always right."

"So glad I have all these women to keep me in line," he said, flicking Al's nose. "How ever would I survive?"

"Well, you'd be wrong. A lot." The comment earned Kate a heated look that she smiled at. "And probably still running around with a club and hunting mammoths."

"Oh, you wound me!"

Kate ducked her head to Al's, brown curls blending with brown curls. "So dramatic. Must get it from his mother," she said before stepping out into the garage before Castle.

"That's right. You better run."


	44. Chapter 44

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>"Before you go," Lanie said, catching Kate as she opened the door to leave the autopsy suite. "I want you to come out with me."<p>

She paused, hand still on the handle, and turned to face her friend. "You what?"

Lanie shrugged, basketball shooting her blue gloves into the hazardous material bin. "I need a girls' night. You need a night away from Al. Let Writer Boy take her for a night and come out with me."

"I can't, Lanie."

"You can't or you won't?" the other woman asked, boosting herself up onto one of the empty tables, feet swinging under the metal slab. "Because I think it's the latter. What's wrong with letting your hair down for a night?"

Kate sighed, letting go of the door to lean her back against it. "I've got to finish this case and Al has to make a project for school tomorrow and I don't have time. So I really can't take a night to go out drinking and dancing in a crowded club with you."

"The case is as good as closed – I just gave you the last piece of evidence you need to get Inwood behind bars. All that's left is the paperwork and we both know you can leave that until tomorrow." Lanie held up a finger when Kate opened her mouth to protest. "As for Al's project, Castle can help out with that. He's creative and thinks like a five year old. So," she drew out, pointing the same finger at Kate with narrowed eyes. "You're coming out with me, Katherine Beckett."

"God, Lanie. Sometimes I hate you," Kate said, pushing off of the door and swinging it open behind her. "I really, really hate you."

"Pick you up at five," Lanie called as Kate left.

Castle was spending the day at home, working on a chapter that was due last week, so Kate called him from the car on her way back to the precinct. He answered immediately and she sensed he was waiting for a distraction.

"Can you watch Al tonight? Lanie wants to go out and I can't see Al enjoying the club that I know I'll be dragged to."

"Will you be in a skimpy dress?" he asked, laughing lightly even as Kate heard the click of keys start up again.

Kate rolled her eyes. "Is that all you men think about? How much leg you'll be able to see when I drop her off?"

"Duh. What else will we think about."

"Fine. I'll call my dad."

"Wait!" he shouted. "I'll take her. No ogling your legs. Promise."

"There's one more thing. She has a science project due tomorrow. She needs to make Saturn out of papier-_mâché_ and will need help. Think you can handle that?"

"Oh yeah! I love projects. Plus, Nikki's really not cooperating right now."

She sighed dramatically. "Oh, the troubles of being a best-selling author. Need a little inspiration, perhaps?"

"You know, when you say things like that, Kate, I just have to picture your legs…"

"Hanging up now. Goodbye, Rick."

* * *

><p>"You're pretty, Mom!" Al said, reaching up to touch the hem of Kate's dress.<p>

Kate knelt down, taking Al's hand. "You really don't mind spending the night with Rick? He'll help you with your science project, making Saturn like you wanted, right?"

"Saturn has rings," the girl said matter-of-factly.

Turning to slip on the black heels that she knew would be killing her feet by the end of the night, Kate nodded. "Yes, it does."

"You have a ring, Mom." Al said, following Kate from the bedroom to the living room. "Grandma's ring. It's pretty."

"Well, Saturn has a different kind of ring, doesn't it, kid?" She pulled on her jacket, handing Al her own jacket. "Did you know Saturn's rings make music?"

Al pushed Kate's thigh without any force. "No sound in space, silly!"

"Yeah, but NASA has some cool tools that let them record the rings as they spin around. It's awesome," she said, ushering Al out the door, grabbing the bag of project supplies on the way out.

"Like your ring better."

"Mmm. Me too."

* * *

><p>"Mom?"<p>

Castle rolled over, blinking into the pale light trickling into his room from the desk lamp, left on in case Al got up. The little figure was a shadow outlined in the light in the doorway. "Al? What's wrong?"

"Mom? Where's Mom?" she asked, her voice quivering as she stumbled a few steps into the dark bedroom.

"Oh. Oh, sweetie," he said, getting out of the bed and going to scoop the girl up. "Mom's not here. What's wrong?"

Al burrowed her head into Castle's shoulder and he felt the warmth of her tears on the strip of skin exposed by the t-shirt. "Scared." She wrapped her arms around his neck, anchoring herself to him. "Scared, Rick. Want Mom."

"Nightmare," he murmured, more to himself than to the girl. "Okay. Uh, let's turn the lights on, okay?" He flipped the dimmer on, keeping the lights low so they wouldn't be blinded. But in the low lighting, he could still see the tears in Al's eyes, the slight trembling of her body. "Better?" Al didn't respond, whimpering even in the light. Castle turned, sat on the edge of the bed, cradling Al against him. "Al, I know you want Mom but she's not…"

"Mom…"

"Alright. Alright, let's see what we can do." Trying to balance the shaking girl, Castle leaned over to grab his cell phone, plugged into the outlet to charge. The screen glowed bluish in the room, illuminating their faces. "Let's hope that Mom has her phone on," he said, hitting the speed dial for Kate's cell. "Because I have no idea what to do right now…"

* * *

><p>The music was too loud. The air stunk of alcohol and stale sweat. People were dancing far too close to her and she had already spilled most of the soda water onto Lanie's arm.<p>

Oh yes. Kate Beckett totally missed the club scene.

"Come dance, Kate!" Lanie shouted, just loud enough to be heard over the bass that thrummed through the room. "Live a little!"

Sipping the soda water, the lime wedge floating on the surface, Kate shook her head. "No thanks. Remember what happened last time I 'lived a little'?"

"Aw, come on! Just one dance then you can come sit again." Lanie wrapped her free hand around Kate's elbow, giving her a tug. "Please! Please, please, please!"

"Fine. Stop yanking at me," Kate muttered, taking a last drink of the bubbling water. Just as she got up, steadier than Lanie on her heels without any alcohol in her bloodstream, her clutch vibrated. Lanie rolled her eyes while Kate waved her hand. "Give me a minute."

She answered without looking at the caller ID – it would have been invisible in the bright, pulsing lights of the club anyway. "Hello?"

"Kate?"

"Rick?" Lanie sighed, at least Kate thought she sighed, and shuffled off into the crowd. "What's wrong? Is Al okay?"

He sounded panicked. Even over the phone, even in the music that was still blowing out her eardrums, she could tell that everything was not okay back at his loft.

"Uh, yeah. I mean, I think she's okay."

The muffled sob came through the earpiece and Kate was on her feet. "You think she's okay? Rick, what's going on?"

"I think she had a nightmare. She wanted you but you're out with Lanie and I didn't want to interrupt your night but…" he sighed and Kate could picture him running his hand through his hair in frustration. "Kate, I didn't know what to do."

"I'll come home. Give me half an hour to find a cab and I'll be there."

"No!"

Kate blinked at his conviction but was still up on the tips of her toes, scanning the bodies for Lanie's head. "This isn't a test. There's no pass or fail. Let me get a ride and-"

"I got this. Enjoy your night out, Kate. I'll figure something out."

She rolled her eyes. Stupid, stubborn man. "You're sure?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. We're fine."

"Sometimes just cuddling calms her down. Put on some music and just lay there with her. In case nothing else works," Kate supplied.

"Thanks. See you later?"

"Definitely. Who else would I be coming home to?"

He laughed and she could tell he was still nervous. "No one, I hope. Thanks, Kate."

Castle hung up first and Kate waited a moment before putting her phone back in the clutch. Lanie was still missing so she sat back down, swirling the soda water with the little red straw. Al hadn't had nightmares in a while, not since Marcus from school told her a ghost story and the girl couldn't get to bed for a week without having Kate in the room. Figured that she'd have another one when Kate was nowhere nearby to talk the girl off the proverbial cliff.

"What was that?" Lanie asked, dropping onto the couch next to Kate, kicking her feet up onto the little table in front of them.

"Al was having a nightmare."

Lanie laughed, barely heard over the cheers of the crowd as the song changed. "And he was panicking a little."

"More than a little."

"And you want to go rescue him."

"That obvious?" Kate said, slumping back into the cushions.

Lanie got up, taking Kate's glass and placing it next to hers on the table. "Let's go drop you off to save the damsel in distress." When Kate sat there, staring at Lanie in shock, the other woman crossed her arms. "You'll be unsociable if you know your girl is having a hard night. More unsociable than usual. So come on. Off we go."

* * *

><p>The cab dropped Kate off last after she made sure Lanie got to the front door of her apartment into the hands of the young doorman taking the midnight shift. Paying the driver who had been relatively sane for a New York cab driver, she let Eduardo open the door to the building for her.<p>

"Late night, Miss Beckett?" he asked, taking up his post again, sliding onto the chair behind the desk.

She shrugged, going for the stairs rather than the elevator. "Later than usual. Have a good night, Eduardo."

"And you," he returned as she started up the stairs.

Using the key he had slipped her a few weeks ago, Kate let herself into the loft. It was dark save for the light from the lamp on his desk in the study. She could still see the papier-_mâché_ ball, painted pale tans, gold, and red, drying on the dining room table, the coat hangers they had bent into rings resting next to the planet. Putting her heels next to the table, Kate moved into the study, flicking the light off as she passed, until she was in the bedroom.

He had left the dimmed lights on and she could just barely see the two lumps on the bed. Their breathing was steady, no more shuddering whimpers from her daughter or alarmed whispers from Castle. All quiet on the front.

"You're home."

She jumped when one of the lumps moved, getting out of bed without disturbing the smaller bundle of blankets. "She fell asleep with you?"

Castle yawned, stretched his hands over his head. "Right away. As soon as she curled up next to me."

Kate smiled, reaching up to brush her thumb over his brow. "You're so good with her," she said, walking into the bathroom after snagging the huge t-shirt he had left hanging over the back of the chair. He followed and she knew he was looking at her legs.

"Only after you calmed me down," he said, leaning against the door of the bathroom and watching as Kate shimmied out of the dress, throwing it at him. "I was terrified."

"Well you survived your first nightmare. It's all uphill from here. Plus, you made Saturn with her. How'd that go?"

"Fun. It's been a while since I can remember sticking my fingers together with that lumpy papier-_mâché_ stuff. Gets everywhere." Castle stepped closer, fingers trailing over her side. "You have a good night with Lanie?"

"I'm not really a party girl. Lanie just likes having someone to drag around." She pushed up on her toes to kiss him lightly. "Tired. Let's go to bed."

It was hard, arranging themselves around Al's sleeping body, but eventually they managed to settle on either side of the girl. As Kate sank into sleep, aided on by the presence of Al right next to her and the knowledge that Castle was just on the other side, she felt him run his fingers through her hair.

"Love you, Kate."

She rolled over as much as possible, enough to make out his eyes in the dark, and smiled. "Love you, too, Rick."


	45. Chapter 45

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>"Mom!"<p>

The thing that hit the side of her bed before climbing up onto her back had to be her daughter. Instead of continuing across the bed, Al sat on the small of Kate's back, leaning down to wrap her arms around her mother's neck. "Mom! Wake up!"

"No," Kate moaned, burying her head into her pillow. "Five more minutes, Al."

Abandoning Kate, Al tumbled over into the valley of the bed, throwing herself onto Castle's side. Kate heard the "oof" from Rick as Al jumped onto him. She rolled over, watching as Al sat on his chest, hands framing his face, wiggling his head from side to side.

"Rick, wake Mom up!" she demanded as soon as Castle's eyes peeked open.

"Mmm…" he hummed, looking over at Kate for a moment. "Why?"

Al crossed her arms, frowning. "Cause."

Closing his eyes again, Castle picked Al up around the waist and deposited her back between him and Kate. "Go to sleep, Al."

Kate barely stifled the giggle before Al reattached herself to her back. "Mom! It's my birthday!"

"Oh, is that today?" Kate sighed. "I knew something important was going on. Totally slipped my mind."

"But… but baseball…"

The look of pure heartbreak on the girl's face had Kate breaking into a smile, shifting to tickle Al's sides. "Kidding! Of course we're going to baseball tonight. School first, though."

"Don't wanna," Al managed to gasp out between fits of laughter. "Skip school!"

"Not gonna happen, kid. Up we get," Kate said, dumping Al on the side of the bed, giving her a nudge toward the door. "Go brush your teeth. We'll get breakfast started."

Al groaned but still disappeared out of the bedroom. As soon as the girl was around the corner, Castle tugged Kate over so she was sprawled over his chest. He reached up, brushing her hair away from her face, giving the strands a pull as their lips met.

"Morning," he whispered, running his fingers along her hairline.

Curling her hand around the back of his neck, Kate lowered her lips to his again. "Morning. Need to go make breakfast for the birthday girl."

"Is she really six?"

Kate tilted her head, scooting away from him. "What type of question is that?" she asked, searching her drawers for the oversized hoodie to fight off the morning chill. "Of course she's six. I have very clear memories of this day six years ago." Mostly of laying in the hospital bed with her dad at her side, exhausted from a labor that lasted into the early morning.

"No, I meant, what time? Got to be official, you know," he said, propping his head up on his hand.

"Trust me, it's official. Now get out of bed so you can help make waffles."

He lingered in her bed, watching as she went to heat up the waffle maker, start making the batter. The whole thing was surreal. Waking up with her next to him, Al running in to jump into bed, then Kate off to make breakfast before getting Al off to school.

And he wanted that. Every day. Not just the days when they were too tired to call a car service or a cab to drive him back to his apartment.

Asking her to move in with him crossed his mind as he got up, socked feet curling against the rug Kate had put down once the weather really hit freezing. Later, he told himself. When it wasn't Al's birthday and they weren't going to spend the entire day together and go to a Yankees game that night. The tension if she said 'no' would not make the night go smoothly for Al. But soon. He wanted, needed, to ask her soon.

The kitchen smelled of raspberries and coffee. Kate was humming softly as she poured batter into the waffle press, licking the bit of tan liquid off of her thumb. "How many do you want?" she asked, reaching up for two mugs.

"I got that," he said, taking the cups and sneaking the pot of coffee from in front of her. "And just one."

"Al'll have orange juice in her…"

"Red cup," he cut in, grinning when Kate narrowed her eyes in his direction. "I know." Castle took the girl's red plastic cup, the one with the white flowers on the sides, pushed the milk and diet soda out of the way in the fridge, and poured out the orange juice.

He handed Kate her mug, placing Al's at her spot at the table. When he turned around, he heard Al's feet in the hallway. "Quick," he whispered, jogging over to Kate again, setting his mug on the counter behind her. "One last one before she shows up."

"We're not hiding from my-"

Castle cut her off with a warm kiss, one flavored by the coffee she had just sipped at. The little moan she let out as he nipped at her lower lip made him want to boost her up onto the counter and see what other noises he could draw from her. But Al was running over so Castle stepped back, fingers trailing off her hip.

"Waffles? Yay!" she shouted as she sat down.

"You bet," Kate said, her hand squeezing his wrist as she maneuvered the waffle from the iron. "And guess what else we have."

"Whipped cream?"

She brandishes the can from the fridge and Al screamed with delight. "What type of birthday would it be without whipped cream?"

"Yes!"

Kate sprayed the chilled topping onto the waffle, added rainbow sprinkles, and brought it over to Al with a fork. "Enjoy, birthday girl," she said, kissing Al's cheek.

Castle had poured out another serving of batter into the iron, closing it, and turning around to watch as Kate returned to the kitchen. "Save some of that whipped cream, Kate," he murmured into her ear, feeling the shiver that ran up her body.

"You're impossible," she muttered, taking a sip of her coffee as they waited for the waffle to finish. "Don't you have a book to promote or a chapter to write or something?"

"My day's clear. I'm all yours."

Nudging him aside, Kate took the second waffle out, sliding it over to him. "Well I'm not going into work today so you can come out and help me find a present of her," she said quietly, starting in on the third waffle.

"Happy to aid the NYPD in any way possible. Though you should know that my mother can't make the game but has commanded me to give Al the present she left at my place. Maybe after the shopping trip you can drop me off there and I'll get a car service to bring us to the game?"

"Not a limo," Kate warned, pointing the fork at his face. "Don't care if it's her birthday, we are not showing up at the stadium in a limo."

"Deal. Your waffle's burning," he said, cutting into his after pouring maple syrup over the one he had on his plate. When Kate saved the slightly-burnt breakfast, Castle held out his plate. "Trade?"

Kate shook her head. "It's fine. Al, you nearly done?"

Whipped cream lined her mouth, dotted with pink and yellow and green sprinkles, Al said, "Done! School then baseball?"

"School then baseball," Kate confirmed, taking Al's empty plate off the table. "Drink your orange juice then go get your backpack. We'll drop you off at school."

Al slurped down the juice, put the cup on the table with a snap, then ran off toward her room for her school supplies. Castle collected the cup, placed it in the sink next to the girl's plate, and took another bite of his waffle.

"Any idea what you're going to get her?" he asked.

Kate shrugged. "No idea. Something usually hits me when I go look around. Why?"

"I've had something stashed away for a while," he said. "Just want to make sure we don't get the same thing because how embarrassing for you would that be?"

She gave him a shove on his shoulder. "For me?"

"Well, yes. You'd be the one getting the present last so you'd be the one with the shame placed on your shoulders." He dodged the next attack, carrying his plate with him.

"Need to give me a hint at least!"

"Ah, ah, ah," he responded, tapping her nose lightly with the tip of his fork. "Use those detective skills, Beckett. You'll need to figure it out yourself."

Playing dirty, she sidled up against him, her body a long, warm line against his back. She wrapped her arms around his waist, hands inching up to his pectorals as she rested her chin on his shoulder. "Please, Rick. Just a teeny, tiny hint?"

Swallowing hard, Castle shook his head. "Nope. On your own." He ducked out of her hold, heading back toward the bedroom. "Come on and get dressed, Kate. Got to get Al to school."

They dressed quickly because Al was chanting in the living room, "School then game," over and over. As soon as they re-emerged, dressed in jeans, he in a button down, her in a warm brown sweater, Al jumped to her feet and skidded over to the door. "Rick, coming to baseball?"

"Of course, kid."

"Best birthday ever."

* * *

><p>"Too slow," Al muttered, bouncing on her toes next to the door.<p>

Kate grabbed her purse, checking the side pocket to make sure her off-duty piece was tucked there along with her badge. Not planning on busting drunk game-goers' asses but better safe than sorry. "Sorry, kid. We'll still get there with plenty of time."

Al tugged her baseball hat down over her face, growling a little under her breath. "Don't want to wait."

"Six year olds have patience, Alexandra. Plus, Rick's picking us and he hasn't called yet so…"

The phone on the kitchen counter vibrated and Al pounced on it, hitting 'answer' without looking at the ID. "Hi. Oh, hi, Rick!"

Kate sighed, shaking her head as the girl babbled about how slow Mom was and how excited she was about baseball. While Al chattered, Kate double-checked the contents of her purse for her wallet and the tickets for the game. "Come on, kid," she said, helping Al into her coat since she refused to put the phone down. Kate resettled the cap, white with navy pinstripes, on Al's head before herding her out of the apartment.

"Coming," Al said, bopping along down the hallway to the elevator, brown ponytail hitting her back every step. In the elevator, she handed Kate's phone back with a smile

The car was nondescript, something Kate appreciated since taking a limo to a game was ludicrous. Castle got out, opening the back door for them with a bow toward Al. "Your carriage, my ladies," he said with a wink toward Kate.

After Al slid into the backseat, Castle leaned over the door to press a kiss to Kate's cheek. "Don't you look beautiful tonight?"

"It'll be even more beautiful if the Yankees kick the butts of the Sox," she returned.

"Ah. One of those hardcore fans. Tell me, Kate, did you paint your chest?"

Her glare was the only response before she pulled the door closed behind her. She could hear him chuckling as he got into the passenger seat.

The driver dropped the three of them off outside of the Hard Rock Café, as close to Gate 6 as he could get with the traffic pre-game. Kate had to run after Al as she started bounding away from the car. Castle nudged Kate away, scooping Al up onto his shoulders so that she was towering over the crowds, able to see everything.

"What seats do we have?" he asked, following Kate's lead as she walks toward the entrance.

She turned, glanced up at her daughter, hands resting on Castle's head as she watches the other people from under the rim of her Yankees hat. "We're Section 205," she said, digging into the depths of her purse for the envelope with their tickets. "Uh, Row 8."

The place was chaotic once they passed through security and the ticket counter. Kate was glad that Castle had Al securely on his shoulders – less of a chance of her getting lost in the bustle – as they wove through the crowd to the right toward their section. She kept her purse against her side, aware of pickpockets that hung out in the areas right inside the gates.

"Mom, ice cream!" Al said, pointing at the cart with Carvel ice cream cones just outside of Section 207.

"Later, kid. Food first, then ice cream."

Section 205 was packed – right in line with homerun balls – but Castle managed to find their row, claiming three seats next to one another. He lowered Al into the middle seat after brushing off the kernels of popcorn someone had left there during the last game.

"Don't lose your hat," he warned, straightening the cap before sitting down to Al's right. "Might forget which team you're rooting for."

"I 'member," Al said fiercely. "Red Sox are stupid."

There was a ripple of laughter from around them, a few heads turning back to see who had spoken, but Al was already too busy sticking her tongue out at Castle to be bothered with the strangers. Kate watched as Castle subtly draped his arm over the back of Al's chair, protecting her but also allowing himself access to Kate's shoulder, rubbing the fabric of her jacket over her skin.

The sun was still out, barely, so Kate shed the mossy green windbreaker, rolling it up to stuff into her purse. Knowing her hair would tangle in the wind and probably end up in someone's nachos or beer, she scraped it back into a ponytail with the elastic around her wrist.

"You want food, Al, so you can have ice cream a little later?" she asked.

Al was observing the field, some of the players warming up on the sides of the diamond. "Uh-huh."

"Hot dog?"

"Yes, please. With ketchup."

Kate tweaked the visor of the baseball hat. "Will do, ma'am. What about you, Rick? Want anything?"

While Al's eyes were locked on the players, Castle's were busy charting a course of Kate's body. The sneakers and dark jeans were nothing new but the jersey, white with the Yankees's pinstripes, was cut so close to her body that it skimmed her curves as if it was made for her. There was the barest hint of cleavage, not enough to scream for attention but just enough to make Castle drool a little.

"Hey? Rick?" she said, waving a hand in front of his face. "Back to earth, space cadet."

"Uh… What were you asking?"

Kate laughed, the sound heard even over the roar of the people filling the stadium. "Dinner. What do you want?"

"Hot dog's fine. Relish, mustard." He shifted, reaching for his back pocket, until Kate slapped at his arm.

"No. I've got dinner, you get ice cream and popcorn later. Al, stay with Rick, okay?"

The girl nodded absentmindedly, leaning forward in her seat, her feet still not touching the cement floor.

Kate fought her way back onto the concourse, knowing there was a hot dog stand nearby. There was a line – everyone wanted food before the game started – but she was willing to wait the ten minutes until she was able to balance the three hot dogs and two bottles of water in her hands and get back to their seats.

Al was trying to explain the game to Castle who was playing dumb. "Then, then they run to the plates."

"Bases," Kate corrected, handing Castle his food and one of the waters. "Those are bases."

"Food!" Al said, abandoning the account of baseball.

Kate sat down, ripping some of the foil off of the hot dog so that Al wouldn't bite into it, and handed it to the girl. "Careful. It's hot still."

She still supervised as Al plowed through the hot dog, ketchup smeared on her cheeks and nose by the time Al crumbled up the foil to hand to Kate. "Done!"

Castle leaned over, wiped his napkin over Al's nose and face to get the ketchup off. "Ice cream later once the game starts. Need you to keep me updated on what's going on." His fingers caught the sleeve of Kate's jersey, gave it a tug. "Play-by-play, you know."

"You're silly," Al said, scooting back into the chair. "It's baseball. It's easy."

During the sixth inning, Castle ducked out to get them ice cream from the cart. The Sox were winning and from the groans being emitted by the Becketts, they needed to be cheered up. Ice cream was a surefire way to get someone back into the spirit of the game.

Kate smiled at him as he inched out of the row, her hand brushing his knee as he walked by. "She'll usually have an ice cream sandwich, vanilla. And a chocolate sundae."

He got back just as the Yankees finally, *finally*, got a home run. "Celebration ice cream instead of mourning ice cream. Much better," he said, handing Kate the sundae before shimming his way to Al's other side. "And an ice cream sandwich for you, kid."

Al ate slowly, nibbling at the cookies before working on the vanilla soft-serve smushed between the two wafers.

"She's getting sleepy," Kate whispered behind Al's head, holding a spoonful of vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup out for Castle. "She'll be out by the time the game's over."

Sure enough, a few innings later, Al was slumped in her seat, feet dangling over the ground now littered with their neighbors' peanut shells and an empty beer can. Her hat was barely still on her head, her ponytail through the loop on the back the only thing holding it in place. Al's face was smashed up against Castle's side, the little puddle of drool invisible against the black t-shirt he was wearing.

"Let's get her out of here before the game ends," Castle suggested, finishing off the last of his cone. "I'll call the car service, have them meet up back at Gate 6."

Kate pulled her jacket back on, gathered up their trash as Castle took Al up into his arms, holding her against his chest. The girl's arms wrapped around his neck as she sighed, snuggling deeper into the hold.

"Game over?" Al mumbled sleepily.

"Game over," Kate confirmed, running a hand over Al's back.

"We win?"

"Of course we won, kid. Go to sleep."

The concourse was calmer. People were rushing for last-minute snacks or souvenirs while Castle cleared a path for Kate to follow toward the exit. The same black car was waiting outside across the street, the lights flashing when the driver saw them.

"You take the front seat," he said, his hand against the small of Kate's back. "I'll keep her asleep in the back until we drop you off."

Before getting in, Kate pressed a kiss to his lips, one that tasted of sugar and chocolate and strawberry from his cone. "Stay." When she let her heels hit the pavement again, she smiled. "Stay the night again."

As Al snuffled against his neck in her sleep, Castle smiled softly back at her. "Okay. Okay."

And as the fans from inside the stadium behind them cheered for another run, Castle felt his own heart cheer from within his chest and wondered how the sound didn't wake Al up.

Maybe asking them to move in with him wasn't such a far-shot after all.


	46. Chapter 46

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>The room was dark, the lights from the city providing the only illumination through the slats of the closed blinds. His arm was a comforting weight resting over her side, fingers playing with the hem of the t-shirt she had thrown on before falling into bed after getting home from the baseball game. Al had stayed asleep the entire ride back to the apartment, barely waking as Kate changed her out of her jeans and navy shirt and into pajamas. She'd probably be asleep for most of the morning, making up for the adrenaline and excitement from a birthday and a game.<p>

"Rick?"

He hummed, not really listening until that moment. "Yes?"

Kate rolled over, keeping his arm in place as she curled her hand up under her chin, tucked against her chest. "Will you marry me?"

Castle blinked, searching her eyes for a sparkle of teasing or signs of a joke. All seriousness even in the dim light. So he responded in the same straightforward tone. "Yes."

"Really?" The surprise laced through her voice as her eyes widened. "You'd really marry me?"

"Of course. I love you, Kate. I love Al. I wouldn't hesitate to marry you." He reached out, his thumb brushing the area right below her eye, swiping over the skin on either side of her face before letting his palm settle on her cheek. "Why're you crying?"

"I didn't think men like you existed outside of books and movies."

He leaned over, slanting his lips over hers. "Sometimes it's nice to step into reality for a while."

As if to prove the pros of forgetting about fantasy worlds, Castle balanced himself over her, feathering light kisses over her nose, ears, cheeks, until he finally settled on her lips. Her hand looped around his neck, threading through the fine hairs at the nape. She turned her head, felt his lips skim along her jaw. Gentle and sweet and loving.

"We should ask Al," she gasped as he moved to her neck, nipping at the tendon. "Today."

When he spoke, Kate felt it as much as she heard it. "Of course." Edging back up, his nose brushed hers as he looked into her eyes. "I love you so much, Kate, I don't have words for it."

"You silly, foolish man," Kate laughed out, placing a hand against his neck. "Don't need words."

Castle tugged on her t-shirt, pulling it over her head. "No words then."

But she continued talking even as his hands teased along her sides to that one spot he knew made her gasp. "At the coffee shop. Ask her there."

"Why?" he asked, attention split between responding and seducing.

Kate smiled. "She calls it our coffee shop. Ours." Her swat at his hands had no force behind it and she had to squirm from his reach on a breathless giggle. "It's Saturday. We can do presents during breakfast then maybe have lunch at the shop. Ask her there."

"Will she say 'yes'?" he asked, suddenly nervous. "Wait. You asked me to marry you." His mouth was gaping open, his fingers finally stilling. "But… but I don't have a ring or anything."

"No clue," Kate hummed, taking advantage of his distraction to flip them over with a leg hooked over his thigh. Tracing his brow with her thumb, she leaned down to press an open-mouthed kiss to his lips. "Guess we'll have to remedy that, won't we?"

"As long as I don't get held up in the jewelry store," he muttered. "But I trust you to talk the hostage-taker down."

"Oh my God!" she said, pushing off him to dance out of his reach. "You, Richard Castle, read Nora Roberts?"

He had hoped she wouldn't get the reference. Now he couldn't deny anything so he played it cool. "So?"

"So how delightfully unlike you, Cooper," Kate teased, picking her shirt up from where he had dropped it off the side of the bed. "Besides, no hostage negotiation training. You'd be on your own, relying on that famous charm and wit to get you out alive."

Mildly disappointed as she pulled the t-shirt back on, Castle shrugged. "One can never have too broad a repertoire of literature. And yes, that includes Miss Roberts."

He still rolled his eyes as she walked out of the bedroom whistling the theme from _High Noon_. "Never gonna live that one down," he whispered to himself.

The shower turned on and he was out of the bed, scrambling toward the bathroom. She may have escaped him in bed, but there was nowhere to run in the bathroom. Steam was already curling against the mirror as Kate brushed her teeth. She had brushed out her hair, untangling the mess it had become from sleeping in a ponytail, and he had to reach out and run his hand through the brown curls.

"Move in with me," he blurted out, stepping back as she whirled around.

"What?"

Castle shrugged, pulling his own t-shirt off. "Move in with me. Mother's found a place so the loft's empty. There's plenty of room plus if we're going to, you know, get married, it'd make sense." He caught her reflection in the mirror, a little blurred with the fog coating the surface, but still clear enough. Confusion mixed with a healthy dose of shock wrapped up with happiness. An interesting combination. "So?"

"Move in with you," she stated, testing the water with the back of her hand. "When?"

"Next weekend?"

Kate got into the shower, peeking her head out through the curtain. "And my place now?" she asked, moving so that he could join her under the water.

"Keep it." When she laughed, he shook his head. "For Al. When she wants to get away from us once she's in college."

She reached around him for the shampoo. "God, Al in college. That's scary."

"Avoiding the question, Kate," he muttered, taking the shampoo bottle from her. He twirled a finger, having her spin around. "Think about it. But don't avoid it."

"Yes. Next weekend. But," she said, pushing a finger into his chest, "you have to help me move our stuff."

"Promise," he responded, dipping his head to kiss her.

* * *

><p>They started out sitting side by side on the couch, her hair drip-drying over his arm. She would have to brush it out as soon as it wasn't still wet, work out the mess of curls that had developed post-shower. He never told her but he loved the wild woman look she took on when her hair framed her face with those tight ringlets, making her look like some sort of Celtic warrior.<p>

But after Al opened up the first present, one that Martha had sent over with Castle last night, Kate had let the man snug her into the vee of his legs. His arms were looped over her shoulders around her neck, her head resting on his chest as she watched Al dance around the living room.

"Piano lessons?" she asked, turning her head to see his eyes.

He shrugged. "Mother thought she'd like to really learn how to play. Al does okay with fiddling at the apartment so she figured, why not? You played piano as a kid, right?"

"Not the same thing," she muttered.

"You played piano?" Al shouted, throwing herself half onto the couch and her mother's legs.

Kate ruffled Al's hair, tied up in a messy braid that Al had done herself – half of her hair was already falling out and Al refused to let Kate re-do it. "Yes. Grandpa and Grandma had me take lessons when I was little too."

That put Al on edge. She slid off the couch, hands on her hips. "Not little. Six."

"Of course. Open Grandpa's present next," Kate said, handing over the box her father had given her a few days ago. "You going to ask her or should I?" she asked, smiling as Al plopped onto the floor in front of the television to rip at the wrapping paper. "Just so we know before we get to the shop after."

"You ask about the wedding, I'll ask about moving in. Like we did this morning." He took the chance provided by Al's averted attention to kiss Kate's cheek. "Still can't believe you beat me to the honor."

"Why? Afraid that makes you the girl in the relationship?" she teased.

Castle shook his head. "I think we both know I've proven otherwise," he said, letting his voice go low and husky. "Besides, it'll be a story we can tell our kids."

She let the comment slip. Having the marriage and moving in and more children conversations in a single day was far too overwhelming to even think about. Maybe another kid wouldn't be bad, though. Especially with him. Only with him. Maybe.

Al groaned. "Grandpa gave me crackers."

Kate laughed, squeezing Castle's thigh in an attempt to get herself under control as her daughter glared at her. "Yum. He give you peanut butter too or are we on our own for that?"

"Not funny, Mom! Why crackers?"

"He knows you like crackers," Kate said, as straight-faced as possible. "Try his second box."

"Why crackers?" Castle repeated, a brow arched at the package of Ritz crackers.

Kate shrugged. "Every year, Dad gives her something useless. A gag gift. He thinks it's amusing."

The second present made more sense – three coloring books of Disney princesses and ponies and fairy tales with a huge container of new crayons – and seemed to calm Al down from her earlier disgust with the crackers. Castle nudged his bag toward Al, the tissue paper crinkling as she dug into the huge gift bag.

"A penguin!" Al exclaimed, pulling the stuffed animal out of the sea of turquoise and silver tissue paper. "A penguin, Mom!"

"A tuxedo bird just for you so we don't need to go visit them at the zoo," he said. "But we will, of course. Much cooler in person."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

The stuffed animal didn't leave her arms as Kate bundled the girl up to go out to eat. She named it, creatively, Penguin, and carried it down to the street as she stayed at Kate's side while they hailed a cab. When Castle tried to snag the penguin from Al's arms, the girl growled out "Mine" and scooted closer to Kate in the back of the cab.

Al danced ahead, getting the door for the coffee shop before either Kate or Castle could open it. Kate was close behind, wary of the crowd of strangers closing in around them. They found their table, the same one near the window, and Castle pulled over an extra seat so they could all crowd in around the little table. Kate ordered coffee, hot chocolate for Al, and cupcakes.

But as soon as she sat down with Castle and Al, Kate's throat closed up. She could feel Castle's fingers on her knee, giving it a light squeeze, could see Al hugging Penguin against her chest as she admires the pink-frosted cupcake in front of her. It's easy. It should be easy, she corrected mentally. Castle's great. Not perfect but, God, he makes them both happy and has drawn Al out of the little shell she had encased herself in and Kate had laughed more in the past nine months than she had in the last dozen years. Al won't say no. Can't say no. She loves Castle just as much as Kate does.

"Al, kid," Kate started, fingers curling around the coffee cup, pulling warmth and strength from the known to jump into this. She waited until her daughter's bright blue eyes meet hers, pink frosting on her lips from the bite of the cupcake she had just taken. "I need you to tell me the truth when I ask you this question, okay?"

The girl nodded, blinking from her mother to Castle then back.

Kate mirrored the motion, swallowing hard before smiling. "What if…" Her hand moves from the coffee to Castle's wrist, turning his hand over to lace her fingers through his. "What if Rick and I got married? Would you be okay with that?"

Al's mouth dropped open. "Marry Rick?"

"That's the idea," Castle murmured, thumb caressing the thin web of skin between Kate's thumb and forefinger. "But only if you're okay with it."

"Yes! Okay!"

"Really?" Kate sounded surprised, even to her own ears, as Al bounced out of the seat, nearly upending the cupcake and losing Penguin until Castle caught the stuffed animal.

"Sound like me this morning," Castle said. "There's more, Al."

She settled quickly, on the edge of her seat as she stared down Castle. "What?"

"Want to move into my house?"

If Al was shocked before, she was completely dumbstruck now. "With you?"

Castle reached over with his free hand, tugged at Al's messy braid. "Of course with me. And Mom. Just the three of us."

"Mom?" Al asked, Penguin hugged against her. "Can we?"

"Yeah. We wanted to ask you first before we did anything because-"

Al was out of her chair and in Kate's lap, arms around both Penguin and her mother at the same time. "Really best birthday," was muffled into Kate's stomach.

"Better than baseball?" Castle ventured before Al turned to give him a hug too. The glare he received was enough of a response. "Okay, not as good as baseball. Got it."

Kate smoothed Al's hair down, the tangles snagging on her fingers. "Love you, kid."

"Love you too, Mom." Al pulled back, using Penguin to peck a kiss on Castle's cheek. "Love you too, Rick."

And then Kate felt all the pieces fall into place. They fit, finally, after being pushed into spots that were too small or the wrong size or tossed aside from frustration. All she had needed was someone to help guide her hand, to have patience with her as she fumbled through the movements.

Thank goodness he hadn't run.

Thank goodness he hadn't let her run.

Thank goodness.


	47. Chapter 47

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>"Let me come with you."<p>

They were lying in bed, her head resting on his arm as he ran his fingers over her shoulder. Outside the window that he had opened the blinds to, snow was starting to drift over the city. First snow of the season, coming later than usual thanks to a long fall. It was magical, seeing the flakes flutter past their window.

"Worried about the dresses, Rick?" she teased, turning her head to press a kiss to his chest through the fabric of his t-shirt. "Because I have one all picked out already."

"You do?"

Kate nodded. "I do. Bright orange with this nice tie-dyed ribbon around my waist. I mean, I think it's perfect. Al can wear neon pink; it'd match really well."

"God, you had better be joking," Castle said, flipping them so he was braced over her. "Tell me you're joking, Kate. Please."

She hummed, shaking her head. "Why would I ever joke about my wedding dress? I think orange would be charming, off-setting the snow that's probably still going to be on the ground in March. Maybe we could have turquoise accents," she mused, trying to pretend he wasn't pressing her into the mattress with his weight, that his lips weren't that close to hers. "They'd look nice with orange and pink, right?"

Castle cut her off with a kiss, stealing the rest of the teasing words from her mouth as she giggled against his lips. "You're horrible. I have no idea why I'm attaching myself to you for the rest of my life."

"Cause you're foolish and you have money that I want. Gonna marry you, kill you, then roll around in your riches," she responded, trying and failing to squirm out from under him. "Modern day black widow."

"And what about breaking Al's heart when I'm found dead somewhere?" he asked, keeping her in place with his hips, nudging his nose against her neck.

"Then I'm sure your riches will comfort her too. Pay for therapy and all that."

He groaned, letting his forehead hit hers. "Now I'm not sure if I'm worried about the dress or you killing me in my sleep."

"Probably should go with both," she said, tipping her head back so she could brush her lips over his before he captured them hotly. "Need to go get Al dressed."

"She can wait ten minutes," Castle growled, fingers moving from her collarbone down to the hem of her shirt, slipping under the fabric and up to slope of her breast, muffling her gasp. "I need ten minutes."

"That all?" Kate managed, arching up as continued his path across her body. "Thought you had more staying power than ten minutes."

Before he could prove anything other than that the tips of his fingers had the ability to spark electricity down her side, the door to the bedroom creaked open, letting in a stream of light from the study and one very-awake Al. This time, Kate groaned as he shifted off her, hands skimming over her stomach before tugging the shirt back into place.

"Later," she whispered before Al jumped onto the bed with them. "Morning, kid!" she greeted the girl climbing over them as if they were rocks until she can drop into the space between them.

Al's feet kicked out, connecting with Castle's shins as she burrowed into the pillows. "Morning!"

"What has you up so early," Castle asked, threading his hand through her tangled curls.

"Dress day, silly." Al rolled over, hiding her face in the blankets. "Got to get a dress for the wedding."

"What wedding?" Kate teased, getting out of bed with a yawn – mornings were not her thing. "You getting married, Al?"

The girl took her mother's spot, flipping the covers over her head so that she could wrap them around her body. "Not me! Gosh, you two are so weird."

Kate brushed her teeth, untangled her hair and started braiding it as she came back into the bedroom. Al was missing, probably sent off to get dressed by Castle, but the man was still stretch out under the covers, watching her. "What?"

"Just you. Just you, Kate."

"You're getting sappy, Rick?" she asked, using her teeth to pull the hair elastic off her wrist so she could twine it around the end of the braid. She knelt on his side of the bed, swinging her other leg over his hips.

His hands inch up, hold onto her waist, teasing her shirt up again. "Think we've got time now?" he asked, lifting his head up to nip along her jaw.

Kate leaned her head down, giving him easier access to her neck, moaning softly as he nibbled on the long line of her throat. "Make it fast, stud."

With her permission still ringing in his mind, Castle pushed the rest of the sheets down with his feet, flipping them over. "Tell me if…" he started, trailing hot open-mouthed kisses down the crook of her neck to the bit of skin exposed by her t-shirt.

"I know," Kate sighed, tunneling her fingers into his hair. "Less talk, more action before Al gets back."

* * *

><p>Kate never thought she'd be getting married. The thought had crossed her mind a few times before Al was born but never after. The whole pregnant-by-one-night-stand-stranger had ruined the normal steps taken to get to a wedding: dating, a nice dinner out at their favorite restaurant where he got down on one knee and popped the question with a pretty diamond ring, hiring a company to plan the event, and living happily ever after.<p>

She wouldn't trade her path with Castle and Al for anything, as twisted and tangled as it was. Especially seeing her daughter come prancing out of one of the dressing rooms in the second dress, doing a twirl before coming to a full halt in front of Kate and Lanie.

"Pretty," Kate said, reaching out to brush a finger over the skirt, soft satin. "Think this is the one, kid?"

Al tilted her head, looking over her shoulder into the mirror. "Don't know. Maybe." Then she touched Kate's knee. "Where's your dress?"

"Haven't found it yet. Erin is getting some more."

"Your mother is picky," Lanie added, looking up from her phone.

Kate gave her friend a shove on her shoulder. "I'm allowed to be. Bride and all that."

"Mom," Al started, twisting the skirt of the dress in her hands before Kate tapped them, stopping her. "I'm happy."

Kate bent forward, scooping Al up onto her knees. "Oh, me too, Al. Me too."

"Here's a few more we can try, Kate," said Erin, rounding the corner with a handful of white and ivory fabric between her hands. "Well, Miss Alexandra, that dress is very pretty."

Al slid off her mother's lap, spinning around with her arms out. "Thank you!"

"You coming in to try dresses on with Mom or are you going to wait out here with Lanie?"

"Out here. Want to be surprised," Al said with a nod.

Lanie patted the extra chair next to her. "Come on up, chica. Let's see how Mom cleans up with this batch."

Mom wasn't being picky. Kate had to keep telling herself that. She wasn't. She just wanted it to be right. And she was barely holding it together as the sweet bridal consultant chattered about fabric and silhouettes and accessories. All Kate could think of was how her own mom wasn't around to tell off certain dresses or reach for tissues when The One came around.

"I know you said no mermaid dresses but trust me on this one," Erin said with a smile. "Just give it a chance."

She didn't look in the mirror in the room as Erin snugged the bodice up around her, tying something in the back of the gown. Kate's fingers rubbed the side of the dress, felt the loops and swirls of embroidery under her palm. There's softer, lighter fabric just below her fingers but she didn't bend down to feel it.

"Oh, Mom," Al sighs, eyes going wide when Erin opened the dressing room door. She scrambled off the chair, using Lanie's thigh as leverage, dropping onto her bare feet. "Beautiful, Mom."

Kate glanced at Lanie, found her friend's mouth gaping, and had to turn around to check the mirror to see what had caused the reactions. The dress was strapless, the sweetheart neckline covering enough of her breasts to be modest but still giving a hint of cleavage in the center. The bodice was fitted down to her hips, covered in embroidered lace and sparkling sequins dotted throughout the fabric; subtle but still enough to catch the light. At the curve of her thighs, the tulle skirt billowed out around her calves in three tiers, each one ending a little lower than the previous one.

"So?" she said, spinning a little to see Lanie and Al behind her. "What do you think?"

"Girl, that's it," Lanie managed, a smile taking over her face. "That's the one."

"Al?" Kate asked, turning to her daughter, still standing in shock a few steps away from Kate. "Yes or no?" The same question she asked with every new dress to the one person in the room that really mattered. The other would have to wait a few months to see it.

"Oh, yes, Mom," Al breathed, walking over to hug her arms around Kate's middle. "Yes, Mom. Yes."

Kate tipped her head back, wiping away the lone tear that dripped over her cheek. "Looks like a winner," she told Erin.

Erin gave a little cheer then said something about going to find some accessory options.

"Didn't think you were a corset girl," Lanie said, uncrossing her legs and pointing at Kate's back. "But it works."

She's right. The back was a laced-up corset-style, the ribbon hanging down onto the tiers of tulle. Kate takes a moment to pull on the ribbon, not enough to loosen the bow that Erin tied carefully, but enough to feel the smooth fabric slip through her fingers. She also didn't think the train, long but not nearly cathedral length, would have jived with her but it worked.

"One down, one to go," Kate said, brushing her hand over Al's head. "What do you think, kid? That the one or do we need to get Erin to find some more for you to try on?"

The dress on Al was white as well, tea-length, with little cap sleeves of organza. The top is a faux-wrap, ruched satin tucking a belt embellished with beaded flowers and flowers. The girl's hair, loose despite Kate's wish to ponytail it for the trip, settled on her shoulders, a warm brown contrast to the crisp white.

Blue eyes meeting Kate's hazel in the mirror, Al nodded. "It's perfect."

Erin returned, holding a few hangers with more tulle and organza clipped neatly in one hand, the other balancing what appeared to be tiaras and hair clips and a few dozen necklaces looped over her wrist. "Let's see what we can do to make you sparkle, Kate."

Surprising herself, Kate waved Erin off. "No veil. No jewelry. We're good."

The consultant hesitated and Kate wasn't sure if it was the loss of a larger commission or merely shock. "We do have one short veil that would look absolutely stunning with the dress. And a necklace would really bring it together."

Kate shook her head. "Thanks, but no. I'm sure my…" she paused, still tripping mentally over the word, "fiancée will have some present tucked away. No need to ruin another one of those time-honored wedding traditions on him."

"If you're sure…" Erin trailed off, turning away with her armful of fake diamonds and fabric. "Let me put this on a cart and we'll get you back into normal clothes. Both of you," she added with a wink toward Al.

Lanie got up, took hold of Al's hand. "I'll get this chica changed. You want a picture for your dad or someone?"

"No." Kate smiled, softened the word the second time. "No need to let it leak out that Richard Castle's getting married. Our secret, right, Al?"

"Right!"

Five minutes later, Kate's back in her jeans, deep red sweater, and tall black boots, helping Al shrug into her jacket and scarf. Lanie had left to find the car that Castle had insisted they take and Kate was fairly certain her friend was flirting with the driver, a cute boy named William. William who was probably flushed a bright red as Lanie dropped innuendo after innuendo.

Kate ignored the actual price of the dresses as she slid her card across the pale marble counter near the cash register. She'd had that fight with Castle last week when she had told him about the appointment. She refused to budge on the fact that she'd cover the dresses for her and Al. Anything else was fair game for him and her dad to bicker over as far as expenses went. Tucking the receipt with the first fitting date into her wallet, Kate gathered up Al from where she was ogling at another bride and headed out to find Lanie.

Sure enough, there was the medical examiner, huddled into her jacket, looking up at the tall driver despite the snow still falling steadily.

"Lanie, leave William alone and get in," Kate said firmly, giving her friend a nudge toward the back seat of the car.

She gets an eye-roll in response as Lanie moves toward the back door, opening it for Al before she gets in.

"Where to next, Miss Beckett?" William asked, the blush fading as Lanie left.

"Let's get Lanie home first. Then there's a coffee shop a few blocks from here." Kate circled the still-open door. "And William? It's Kate. How many times…?"

"Every time, Miss Beckett. Habit," the boy returned closing the door behind Kate and going to get in the front seat.

Outside of Lanie's building, Kate scooted out, letting her friend out of the car. "Thanks, Lanie. For coming with us."

Lanie grabbed Kate up in a hug, one that Kate returned just as fiercely. "No problem, sweetie. Tell your man I said hi."

William stayed outside of the building long enough to make sure Lanie got into the lobby before driving off in the direction of the coffee shop. It wasn't a necessary stop but one that Kate wanted. Coffee was nice – they had a latte machine back at the loft that she could use – and the pastries were good but it was the principle. Their coffee shop.

"Want anything, kid?" she asked Al when William braked against the curb.

"Cookies!" Al said. "And a brownie. And-"

"Pick one."

The girl's face fell but Kate held her own against the sad-puppy look being shot at her. "Brownie. With sprinkles."

"Think Rick wants a brownie too?"

"Duh. It's Rick," Al said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Kate reached back into the car, ruffling Al's hair. "Three brownies it is then. Be right back."

Al was already halfway through her brownie by the time Kate unlocked the front door of the loft, letting the hyper child in. The girl had adjusted to the extra space of the loft easily, spreading out over the bedroom she had chosen upstairs, making it her own with things from home and things that Castle had surprised her with. Kate still had trouble believing that her old home, the one that she had grown up in, wasn't the place she'd be going home to each night. But knowing that the sweet man she was going to marry had decided to keep paying the rent in order for Al to have it once she grew up was comforting; Kate wanted that place to be in the family.

"Go do homework, kid," Kate said, aiming Al toward the dining room table. "Finish your brownie and work on your math."

"Don't like math," Al whined, sitting at the table anyway.

Kate fixed her daughter with another one of what Castle called her detective-looks until Al sighed. "Just ten minutes of homework then you can take a break." Waiting until Al pulled the little packet of addition problems toward her, Kate moved into the study, opening the door that Castle had closed.

"Hey you," she whispered, drawing his eyes up from his laptop screen. "Brought you a present." She reached into the bag, grabbed hold of one of the brownies.

"You're enough," he said, realizing too late just how cheesy that sounded.

She drew the brownie from the bag, waving it in front of him. "Oh, then I guess I'll keep this," she hummed, biting into the dessert.

He got up, rounding the desk quickly to try and snag the brownie from her hand. "You're so mean to me."

"Mmm… But you love me," Kate said, using his forearms to reach his lips.

Castle can taste the chocolate and frosting as he darted his tongue into her mouth. "Yes. Yes, I do."

"Early for that."

"Never too early if I mean it." He pulled back enough to give them both time to breath before going back for another series of peppered kisses. "Every. Single. Time."

"Even if the dress is orange and Al's wearing hot pink?"

"Even if."

Kate stepped away before things got too far for them to move back from with Al just outside at the table. "God, you really do love me."

"Well, maybe I'll only like you if you show up in orange," he murmured, hand wrapping around her wrist to bring the rest of the brownie up to his mouth.

"Good thing it's white like every other wedding dress," Kate sighed, feeling his lips brush her fingertips.

"Then yeah. It's love."


	48. Chapter 48

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>March decided to cooperate. Instead of snow and a wind that cut to the bone, there was sunshine and a high that broke a century-old record in New York City. The heat stayed around even as the sun fell behind the horizon, setting the city aglow with reds and burnt oranges. The little lanterns they had set out around the courtyard flickered in the warm breeze. The moon cast a silver reflection on the small pool at the edge of the rooftop garden, rippling on the surface.<p>

She sat in the front row of the now-empty chairs, bare feet curled against the grass. Her shoes were abandoned a few rows back, slipped off after her heel got caught in the soil one too many times.

"Cinderella, you lost your shoes," he called from behind her. "Wait. Not Cinderella. Kate Beckett can rescue herself."

Castle sat next to her, her heels in his lap. "Something wrong that you're hiding from everyone?" he asked, fingers trailing over her bare shoulder, the teasing gone from his voice.

She was quick to shake her head, let it fall onto his upper arm with a sigh. "No. Absolutely nothing wrong."

"Good. Then why are you out here while Al is doing the YMCA in there?"

"She's doing the YMCA?" Kate asked with a smile. "Someone had better be taking pictures. I need blackmail for the future."

He laughed and she felt her heart lighten a little. But he stayed silent, waiting on her to talk out her reasoning for escaping the softly lit loft attached to the garden to the harsh lights of the city.

"I miss her," she whispered against his arm. "I mean, I miss her all the time but today…"

"Yeah," Castle murmured, smoothing a hand over the back of her head, pressing her nose further into his arm. "More today than before. She should be here."

"But she isn't." Kate took a deep breath, forehead resting on his shoulder as she steadied herself. "I know I shouldn't be hiding. Let's go back in."

Castle caught her wrist as she started to stand up, bringing her up against his chest for a hug. "You take as much time as you want. I'll distract them."

She laughed, wrapping her arms around his back, flattening the stiff fabric of his tux against his spine. "What? With your rapier wit and charm?"

"Don't forget my dashing good looks." He pulled back, loosening the hug enough to use one hand to tip her chin up. "Stay out here however long you need. Seriously. No pressure, Mrs. Castle."

Kate's breath caught in her throat and she had to swallow hard to get past it. Not her legal name, but still. Married. With a husband and a father for Al. Finally. "I'm good," she said, linking her hand with his. "Let's go and dance, okay?"

He hooked her abandoned heels in his free hand while they walked back up the stretch of grass to the loft attached to the rooftop garden. They could hear the band playing the Electric Slide, could see the people doing the goofy dance moves through the windows. His thumb rubbed over the single ring on her left hand.

He hadn't gotten her an engagement ring. He had meant to, had searched on websites and ducked into little jewelry boutiques in the attempt to find the right one. But after a month of futile searches, Kate had made him stop, saying that she didn't need two rings. Then they had focused on finding wedding bands. Castle wasn't surprised when she had honed in on the simplest of the rings in the shop – the thin rose gold band held onto the bezel set diamond. It's warm and pretty and her.

Inside, Al was holding court at the head table, having halted her rendition of the VillagePeople's song, with Ryan's girlfriend Jenny and Montgomery's wife. She had a piece of cake on her lap, frosting smeared over her cheeks, and a smile as bright as the moon on her face. Across the dance floor, Ryan and Esposito seemed to be having some sort of dance-off with Lanie judging from a chair she pulled over from one of the other tables.

Kate turned her head and lifted up on her toes to press a kiss to his jaw. "This is what you've gotten yourself into," she murmured against his skin. "You ready?"

"Too late to back out now, isn't it," he responded. She laughed but he just squeezed her fingers. "But no. I'm happy."

"Me too."

Castle tossed her shoes under the head table as the passed by. Jenny and Evelyn smiled at them as Kate reached over with a napkin to wipe the frosting off her daughter's face. "Having a good time, kid?"

"Yes! There's cake!" Al said, holding the plate up for their examination. Chocolate cake with white frosting, bright flowers piped onto the surface. "And I was dancin' with Ryan and Espo. They're weird," she said, pointing her fork at the two men doing old-fashioned dance moves in their own space of the dance floor.

"Want to come dance with me?" Castle asked, scooping a fingerful of frosting off Al's cake and eating it. "I won't be weird."

Al pushed the rest of the cake onto the table, sliding off her chair with the help of Evelyn. "No weird dancin'," she warned, narrowing her eyes at Castle.

"Promise," he said with a straight face even as he winked at Kate. "No weird dancing."

Castle took Al off to the dance floor, leaving Kate at the table. She took the rest of Al's cake and cut a corner piece off. Once they reached the edge of the floor, Castle bent down to lift Al up onto his shoes with a giggle from the girl. He kept hold of her hands as he started to spinning around the dance floor, keeping Al balanced on his feet.

"You're beautiful, Katie." Jim had sidled up against her side, smiling out at his granddaughter dancing with Castle. "And you're happy."

"Did you feel this way? On your wedding day?" she asked, holding out the plate of cake as an offering to which he shook his head.

He tilted his head, regarding his daughter carefully. "Like what?"

Kate ate another bite of the cake, shrugging. "Like your heart was going to explode but still terrified of messing things up. Like everything makes sense while you can't comprehend anything."

"Like you're watching the only one for you while knowing they're looking at you the same way?" he asked. "Yes."

She gave a short laugh, drawing a line through the colored frosting on the crystal plate. "Does it ever go away?"

Jim took the plate from her, putting it behind him on the table. "Never, if you've found the right person. I know it never left me with your mother." He brushed her loose hair off her face and Kate turned her head to smile softly at him. "Let me see the ring?"

Kate held her hand out, let her dad catch it between his fingers as he turned it, watching the diamond catch the light. "Does it meet your approval or should I work out the divorce papers already?" she teased.

"Oh no. He did fine. More than, actually." Jim leaned back against the table. "He's a good man, Katie. A really good man."

"I know," she said, nodding and trying to casually wipe away the tears that she had thought she had a grip on. "We're working with a lawyer, you know." Her father shook his head so Kate continued. "To have him adopt Al. I mean, she already thinks of him as a father-figure but what if…" Kate swallowed and pushed past the fear that clogged up her throat, "what if I got hurt and he wasn't her legal guardian? Better to have it be official. And he wanted it, wanted to have something to claim her with, you know? Just in case."

"It's sweet. And look what he's getting out of the deal?"

"What do I get out of what deal?" Castle asked, bringing Al back over and plopping her onto a chair near the table.

Kate hipchecked him, laughing as he wrapped his arm around her waist and kept her against his side. "You get me and Al out of this marriage."

Ignoring her father standing less than five feet from them, Castle leaned down and pressed a kiss to her mouth. "Oh. That. Makes me the luckiest man alive, doesn't it?" He grinned at Jim and Al, tugging Kate away from the table. "I'm stealing her. We need to dance."

The band was playing something jazzy and slow, the floor emptying out save for the couples. Castle pulled her close, one hand splayed out at the small of her back over the embroidered lace, the other resting on her waist. "Want me to dance with you on my feet too?" he whispered.

"I think I can handle it." Kate let her head fall forward onto his chest, muffling the laughter. Laughter that she didn't seem to have control over tonight. "I love you, you know," she said quietly.

"I'm fairly certain that I have an idea about how much you love me. Mostly because the same goes." He spun her out, holding onto her fingertips, then tugging her back into the circle of his arms.

"Dip her, Rick!"

Kate had less than a second to grasp what her daughter had just shouted out before Castle's arm looped around her waist and gave her a little push so that she bent backwards over his forearm. He took advantage of her open mouth to kiss her, tongue darting in to tangle with hers.

There was applause from the guests as they straightened. Castle bowed while Kate tucked herself into his side, pressing her face against his shoulder. "You're so dead when we get home tonight, Richard Castle."

"I expect you to follow up on that threat, Katherine Beckett."

Kate moved back to their table, sitting next to Al. "You're also dead tonight, Alexandra."

But her daughter cuddled into her side, arms hugging her around her waist. "I love you so much, Mom."

"You'll love me more when I tell you about honeymoon plans," Castle said, pulling a chair over and sitting in front of the girls. "Which are staying a secret until later when we can nail down dates."

Al climbed over Kate's lap and into Castle's, wrapping her arms around his neck and hanging on it. "Where we goin'?"

He kissed Al's forehead, sitting her on his knee rather than dangling from his neck. "Oh, someplace magical, I'm sure."

"But… but I want to know!" she said, patting Castle's cheek. Trying to win him over with an overload of adorable rather than fighting him on the fact. "Tell me! Whisper it," Al said, boosting herself up so her ear was near Castle's mouth. "Secret."

Castle laughed, brushing Al's hair back. "Secret from you and Mom. Just for now."


	49. Chapter 49

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>The morning after was no different than any other morning.<p>

She still woke up on her stomach, face mashed into the pillows, suffocating a little against the fabric and under the cover of her hair. He's still on his back, one hand reaching out across the space between them for her arm, his fingers tickling the crook of her elbow. There was still that one lock of hair that fell out of place as he slept, a dark line across his brow.

The sunlight was sneaking into the room from around the blinds, two lines of light across the bed and floor. Cars honked outside, people swore at taxi drivers. A pigeon flew into the window, making her jump as it hit the glass. Stupid birds.

The only differences, Kate figured, was the fact that they were naked and there was a ring on their left hands. Normally they managed to find shirts to pull on before falling asleep in case Al crashed in the next morning.

She turned her head just enough to check that the door was still closed before rolling over and pushing her hair back. The wedding band was chilly against her forehead as it passed over the skin and Kate stopped, held her hand out in front of her to examine the ring.

"Looking to trade up already?" came the muffled question from his side of the bed.

"Totally. I need a ring that I can knock some suspects out with. This?" she said, moving her hand from side to side, watching the light glint off the facets of the stone. "Useless."

Kate huffed out a laugh as he moved over her, grabbing her wrist and looking at the pink-gold band. "I see your point. Well, it's only fair, then. You have a valid reason." He dropped her wrist back to the pillows, capturing the other so that she couldn't move. "Tired?"

"After last night?" she asked, pushing her head up to brush her lips over his cheek. "Definitely. Go back to sleep."

"Can't now. Too riled up, what with you ditching my ring not a day after I put it on you," Castle growled, ducking down to kiss her, stealing what was left of her breath.

Once he shifted his head off her mouth, Kate sighed. "Seriously, Rick. Too tired."

"Think that says something about that staying power you continuously mock," he murmured hotly into her ear.

Her fingers curled around his wrists, her short nails dragging over the skin. "Get off so I can take my shower before Miss Maid-of-Honor arises and wants breakfast."

Castle let go, flopping back onto the bed beside her. "Does her royal highness have plans for today?" When Kate leveled a glare at him, he shook his head. "I meant Al, not you. I know better than to call you royal."

Kate leaned over to move that lock of hair back in line with the rest. "Well, one might say I have a castle now." Then she was gone before he could catch her again.

"Wow. That's so cheesy, Kate," he called as she ran into the bathroom giving him a last flash of her long legs. "So cheesy."

He wanted to lounge in bed until she came back, smelling like her body wash and shampoo and toothpaste, and tug her back into the blankets for the rest of the day. He wanted to spend hours just laying here with her, talking or not talking.

But he knew that there was a little girl sleeping upstairs that would be barging in at some point as soon as she rested up after last night. The same little girl that had stood next to her mother during the entire ceremony yesterday afternoon up on the rooftop near Rockefeller Center, holding Kate's little bouquet and trying not to squeal with excitement. The girl that he had carried from the town car up to her bedroom after she had fallen asleep on the ride back to the loft, he and Kate taking turns kissing her goodnight before closing the door to her room.

And then they had done things that exhausted both of them until he couldn't lift up his arm enough to even trail it over her stomach.

Married. God, he was married.

Castle ran his hand over his face, felt the scratch of stubble from the night. He hadn't thought he was the marrying kind, happier to move from woman to woman at will. But just thinking about leaving Kate and Al made him shudder.

No. He was with them. Better or worse.

"Rick, you might want to get dressed," Kate called, poking her head out of the bathroom with her toothbrush in the corner of her mouth. "No need to scar Al."

Right. "Thanks," he said, scrambling out from under the covers to search for his boxers, abandoned on the heated path they had blazed from upstairs back down to their bedroom. They were near the door, halfway under the dresser. Next to her panties, which he scooped up along with the other pieces of clothing they had scattered.

He paused at the hamper, dropping the clothing into the wicker basket. Draped over the back of the chair in the corner of the room was her gown, the tulle skirt feathered over the dark leather of the seat. The embroidery caught on his palm as he ran his hand over the bodice, shaking it out before finding a hanger for it. He was sure she had some special bag for it, to keep it in, but for now, folding it over one of his metal hangers would work.

"Reminiscing already?"

Castle jumped, knocking his hand on the closet door as he stepped back. Kate was wrapped up in a towel, her hair dripping long lines down her back and shoulders as she sat on the edge of the bed with a bottle of lotion. "Uh, no. Just cleaning up."

He flopped onto the bed, watching as she threw a hand out to catch herself before she tumbled backward. "Do you have plans?"

"I do," she said, smoothing the lotion over her legs.

"Can I come?"

Kate nodded slowly. "I was sort of counting on it. You're a pretty important piece of this plan. So," she said, trailing off as she leaned back on her elbow to run her hand over his cheek, "I think you should get dressed. Soon."

He hopped off the bed, ducking into the bathroom to get his shower in before she left him out of her plan. Kate searched the drawers for underwear and clothes until she found a pair of jeans and a thick white sweater. She wrung her hair out then scraped it up into a ponytail, heading out into the kitchen to heat up the griddle for pancakes.

"Mom?" Al chirped, stocking feet padding down the stairs as she held onto the railing. "Up?"

"Yes, kid. We're up," Kate said, scooping the half-asleep kid up onto one of the bar stools against the counter. "Want pancakes?"

Al nodded, watching as Kate moved around the kitchen, mixing the batter and pouring it out onto the griddle. Her hair was still pinned up with the bobby pins and Kate knew it would be a tangled mess when she went to brush it out after breakfast. Kate had the coffee machine going, the drip of the liquid a comfort as she flipped pancakes and slid them onto a serving plate.

"Orange juice or milk this morning," she asked, opening the fridge to take out both containers, holding them up for Al's inspection.

"Milk, please," she said, yawning. "Mom, what's that?"

Kate's face went red as her daughter pointed out her bra, hanging from the back of the couch. "Uh, nothing, kid. Here." Kate placed the plate of pancakes in front of Al, handing her a fork. "Eat up. Gonna go on a trip today." As soon as Al was distracted with food, Kate ran over and snatched up the bra, jogging into the study and straight into Castle.

"Running back into my arms already?" he asked, smirking as he buttoned his jeans.

She held up the underwear as if that was the only explanation he needed, brows raised accusingly.

"Was wondering where that went," Castle mused, passing by her on the way to the kitchen. "Morning, Al!"

While he was out in the kitchen, Kate searched through the books she had brought with her from the apartment. She hadn't slid them into empty spots on his expansive bookshelves, keeping her collection separate in their box rather than merging them. There was one that she needed today. Running a hand over the worn red cover, Kate slipped it into her purse.

When she came back from the bedroom, face still a pale pink, Castle was eating with Al at the counter, trading stories of days that they skipped school, which was what Al was doing that morning. "So, what's your grand plan for this fine Monday morning?" he asked around a mouthful of pancake.

"You share honeymoon plans, I'll share Monday plans," Kate countered, slicing her own pancake.

"Guess we're in the dark, huh, Al?"

He still hadn't divulged the honeymoon information. Not after Al begged and pleaded all night at the reception. Not after Kate had tried to withhold sex for the location. It was annoying. And sweet.

"Just dress warm," Kate warned. "It's cold out and we'll be outside for a while."

Castle cleaned up breakfast as Kate headed upstairs to help Al get dressed. No hints. Just dress for the cold. As he rinsed dishes and put them in the dishwasher, he ran through ideas of where she could be taking them and kept coming up blank. So when the girls came back downstairs, Al clutching Penguin, and took out their coats from the hall closet and Kate handed him his, he didn't venture any guesses.

She drove them rather than taking a cab. She needed the concentration of fighting through traffic in Manhattan to distract her from the emotions going through her. It would be okay. Al had done this before. And she wasn't worried about Castle. She was worried about herself.

When they passed the entrance to the cemetery, she thought Castle got it. His hand crept over hers, taking it off the steering wheel to hold it against his thigh. "Kate…" he said quietly.

Kate shook her head, ghosting at a smile. "It's okay. I want her to meet you."

Al's mouth was open in the backseat, looking up from her coloring book. "Gonna see Grandma?"

"Gonna see Grandma," Kate confirmed, navigating the roads of the cemetery with practiced ease. She has made this trip more times than she could count, knew exactly where the polished marble stone was located even if she had been spun around as if in a game of pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey. "Got to tell her about the wedding, right?" she said, glancing over at Castle.

Kate stopped the car next to the row, watched as Al bounded from the car, holding Penguin by the bird's wing, and up the little hill to the headstone with a sapling growing next to it. Al's tree. She, her dad, and a month-old Al had planted the tree together when Kate had brought her daughter there for introductions.

"You're sure you're up for this?" she asked, glancing over at him.

He raised her hand to his lips, pressing a kiss to the base of her thumb. "Should be me asking you the question. I'm ready if you are."

"Nope. You should be terrified. My mom's a tough critic," Kate said teasingly, getting out of the car and watching him from over the roof. "You don't pass this test, you're out."

"Oh, now the pressure's on."

They walked up the slope together, his hand laced in hers. Al was chatting to the pale grey stone, cross-legged on the ground next to her tree about Penguin, how they had met and their adventures since. "Here's Mom and Rick, Grandma!"

Castle hung back, letting Kate go over and touch the top of the stone. "Hey, Mom. Finally found the one," she said, nodding her head over to Castle, reaching a hand out for him. "Rick, I'd like you to meet my mother, Johanna. Mom, Richard Castle."

He stepped closer, swallowing. Don't screw it up. "Hi, Mrs. Beckett."

Al giggled. "He's funny, Grandma."

"I know I'm supposed to do the whole permission thing before the wedding but we're a little out of order anyway." Kate sat down next to Al, tugged Castle's hand to get him to sit as well.

"She asked me to marry her," Castle whined a little, leaning forward to pull Kate back against his chest. "How weird is that? And she didn't even have a ring for me."

"We got you one, didn't we?" Kate said, holding up his left hand to study his wedding band. It's silver, glinting in the pale sunlight. As unobtrusive as hers but wider, more masculine. "Looks good, right, Mom?"

"Grandma!" Al shouted, scooting forward and using Castle's knee as a jumping point. "Rick has a big house! With stairs!"

When Castle furrowed his brow, Kate leaned back, tilting her head up to whisper, "We've never had stairs. It's a big deal."

"Ah," he hummed, taking the chance to press a kiss to her lips.

"Rick!" Kate exclaimed, pushing his face away. "Not in front of my mom!"

Al rolled her eyes, shaking her head at the headstone. "See? They're being weird."

"We're in love," Kate stated, giving her daughter a gentle push. "It's allowed. That's why I'm weird with you."

"We're you weird with Grandma?" Al asked, crossing her arms over her chest and facing Kate and Castle.

Kate nodded solemnly. "Very. Embarrassed Grandpa all the time."

Al patted Kate's cheek. "Then it's okay. Be weird."

"Well then," Castle murmured, "if you'll excuse me, Mrs. Beckett." He leaned forward to capture Kate's lips again, a hand coming up from where it was braced on the ground to hold her chin. She sighed against his mouth, her hand cupping his cheek, smooth now from his morning shave.

"Gross!" Al said, interrupting by pushing her way between them. "Gross! Stop!"

Castle chuckled against Kate's lips, brushing his thumb over the lower one before sitting back again. "Fine, fine… Kate, tell her about the wedding," he prompted instead, poking her in the side lightly.

Kate took a deep breath, body still tingling a little. "It was up on this rooftop garden, Mom. I still don't know how Rick got the place reserved with such short notice."

"Magic," he whispered into her ear.

"Oh, it was," Kate sighed, finding his hand with hers against the grass. The other reached out and ruffled Al's hair. "It was magic."


	50. Chapter 50

_**Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop**_

* * *

><p>Castle insisted on driving them back into the city once they had said goodbye to Johanna. Kate handed over the keys without argument, just a look that told him to take it easy with the unmarked. He didn't let go of her hand the entire ride over the bridge, through the tangled traffic on FDR Drive. It stayed against his thigh, her fingers curling against the denim of his jeans every few minutes.<p>

"Did I pass?" he asked finally, stopped at a red light near the Lower East Side.

Kate nodded, her smile brighter than it had been while sitting on the ground next to her mother's headstone. "Yeah. I think you did. Knowing Mom, she would have made it rain or sent a lightning strike down to smite you or something if she disapproved."

"Good to know." The light changed as a man in a suit on his phone started to cross. Castle had to slam on the breaks to avoid hitting the idiot, his hand tightening on Kate's as he searched the rear view mirror for Al. "Alright back there, kid?"

Al held a thumbs-up, laughing as she wiggled back into her spot. "A-okay!"

"And Penguin?"

The bird came into view, doing a dance in the mirror. "He's good, too."

Castle started forward again. "Good."

"Where're we going?" Kate asked, scanning the surroundings for a hint.

"Not telling," Castle said in that sing-songy voice that grated on her. "Another secret since you didn't exactly prepare me for meet-the-parent."

Kate sat back, fighting the urge to cross her arms like a child or push her husband out of the car and take over driving responsibilities. Instead, she focused on nailing down the neighborhood they were in using architecture and the clothing of the people on the street. Downtown, sort of near…

"We're going to the old apartment?" she gasped, sitting forward and holding onto the dashboard.

He shook his head, grinning like a cat in the cream. "Nope. Shush with the guessing and just enjoy the surprise."

But she wasn't surprised when he parked the car a few feet from their coffee shop. In fact, she sort of expected it from the route he was taking past familiar landmarks and her old apartment. So when she leveled a look over at Castle and he shrugged, Kate couldn't help but smile.

"Fine. Let's get coffee," she said, giving into the boyish charm being shot at her across the car. Kate grabbed her purse, the book hitting her in the thigh through the old leather of the bag. A reminder. "Come on, kid. Let's indulge Rick."

She helped Al out of the backseat, making sure that Penguin came along. Castle snagged Al's hand as they walked up the sidewalk, keeping the girl between them. Al hummed, skipping every few steps to the beat of her made-up song. She almost always came away from trips to see Grandma in better shape than her mother; Kate could only contribute that to the Al having never really knowing Johanna, learning about her grandmother through stories from Jim and Kate.

A woman and her two kids were exiting the shop and Kate caught the door before it closed behind them. The smell of coffee and sugar washed over them in a comforting wave. One of the baristas waved as they came in, recognizing them, and Castle returned the gesture.

It was Al who halted just inside the shop and Kate had to dive to catch Penguin before he hit the ground. "Mom?"

Kate looked up to see what Al was pointing at. Someone was sitting at their table. Their table at their coffee shop. She felt a surge of protectiveness toward the little wrought-iron table, the plush green armchairs all snugged up next to the window looking onto the sidewalk. Their table.

"Let's get food," Castle suggested, placing a hand on Al's shoulder to steer her toward the short line. "Maybe they'll be done in a few minutes."

That hadn't looked likely either. The young woman at their table had a notebook in front of her, papers spread out around her, fully entrenched in whatever she was doing. There was a mug of coffee next to her, still full, which screamed that the woman was planning on staying a while.

"Rick," Kate murmured as he nudged her toward the cashier.

"I got it," he returned. "Hazelnut coffee."

Kate watched as he strolled over to their table, leaning his head down to talk with the woman, careful not to startle her. The woman glanced up, a hand shooting out to grab one of her papers as it fluttered away with the breeze Castle carried over.

"What's Rick doin'?" Al asked, eyes trained on her table, neck stretched forward as she tried to overhear the conversation. "Mom? What's he doin'?"

"He's charming his way into getting our table back," Kate said on a laugh when Castle turned his head and winked at her. "Come on, kid. Tell the man what you want to drink."

Al bounced forward, reaching her hands up onto the counter so her head was over the edge, smiling up at the barista, whose name was Henry according to the little nametag on his white button down, Her grin could have charmed anything out of anyone if they dared make eye contact with her blue, blue eyes. "Hi. I'm Al," she told Henry calmly.

"Well, hello there, Al," the boy responded, leaning down on his forearm so he was eye-level with the girl. "What can I get you?"

"Hot chocolate, please. And a cookie!" Al added quickly, glancing back at Kate for confirmation. She nodded and Al did a little jumping dance. "Chocolate chip, please!"

Henry smiled, straightening up. "Good choice. They're my favorite. Anything else?"

"Latte, skim milk, sugar-free vanilla and a hazelnut coffee," Kate said with a grin. "And maybe a cinnamon sugar scone and an oatmeal raisin cookie?"

"Gotcha. Give me a few minutes with the drinks, ladies," Henry said, turning to grab a white bag and a pair of tongs to take the cookies and scone from the bakery case, swiping Kate's debit card and letting her sign the receipt. "In the meantime, here's your treats. I'll give you a shout when I've got everything else."

Al took the bag, turning and pausing to search for Castle. He was still at the table, sitting in one of the armchairs across from the strange woman. One arm was propped up on the table, supporting his head as he chatted with the woman who looked more than a little awestruck.

"Go on," Kate said, a hand at Al's back, pushing her toward the table. "Go get our table back from the nasty invader."

Clutching the pastry bag to her chest, Al ran over to the table and straight into Castle's legs, successfully crushing all of the sweets in the bag in the movement.

"Careful, kid," he said, rubbing a hand over Al's hair. "Never know what'll happen if you run into people in places like this. Robin, this is my daughter, Al," Castle said, scooping Al up onto his lap, rescuing the pastries.

Robin tucked an escaped strand of her hair, dyed a rainbow of colors and tied back in a French braid, and closed the notebook on her pen. "Hi, Al. I was just finishing up. English literature homework," she sighed with a roll of her eyes.

"Don't go bashing my domain," Castle said dramatically.

"You a teacher?" Robin asked, gathering her notes up, raising a brow across the table at Castle.

He grinned, turning his head when Kate came over, set his coffee on the table in front of him. "Not quite." Before Robin could take the notebook into her arms, Castle reached over and snagged it from her hand. "Kate, have a pen on you?"

She dug into her purse, knuckles grazing the book, and handed Castle one of the Sharpies she found in a pocket, Penguin balanced in the crook of her arm. She smiled softly as she watched him flip the notebook open, catching a glimpse of notes on _Lady Audley's Secret_ before he scribbled across the inside cover. Robin took the notebook back and went to open it but Castle placed a hand over hers. "Secret. Look later."

"Oh, a mystery," Robin said. "I like those. Have a lovely day, Rick, Al." She nodded at Kate before she headed out into the street.

Kate slid onto the abandoned seat, taking a sip of her latte. "She seemed nice. Didn't need to drive her out."

"It's our table, Mom!" Al said indigently, breaking off a piece of her cookie. "Needed it."

"She's gonna have a heart attack when she sees what you wrote," Kate mentioned, handing Castle the scone knowing he wouldn't touch something with any combination of oatmeal or raisins in it. "What did you write exactly?"

He shrugged, biting into the scone. "Just something encouraging. I like writing things, you know," he said with a waggle of his brows.

Kate took his hand across the cool iron of the table. "I do know. In fact," she said, slipping her hand into her purse and taking out the book.

"That's our book!" Al exclaimed, touching the cover, fingers running over the print of the tree on the front.

"No, that's my book," Castle said, glancing up from the familiar cover, more than a little confused. "What are…?"

Al was the one that flipped open the first few pages, past the publishers and copyright pages. "See? Our book."

Castle heart caught in his chest as he saw his own handwriting slanted over the title page of _Flowers for Your Grave_. "You got this signed? When?"

"Years ago. When that one," Kate said, pointing at Al with her coffee cup, "was still a baby. I waited in line for hours on my one day off."

He grabbed for her hand, linking them on top of the book. "Was it worth it?"

She hummed, pulling his hand up to kiss his wrist lightly. "I'd say it was."

"Good. Still got that sense of magic?"

"I like magic," Al chirped, stretching her arms out for Penguin. "With princesses and fairies and princes. Mom, are you a princess cause you have magic?"

Handing the stuffed animal across the table, Kate shrugged. "Maybe. A modern day princess."

"Cause you kick butt," the girl said, feeding a quarter of her cookie to Penguin.

"You bet I do." Kate pressed a kiss to the tips of her fingers, laying them over Al's cheek. "Love you, kid. Oh, and you too, Al."

The glimmer of humor in Castle's eyes was enough of a response for her. The words, though, sealed it. "Love you too, my women." He took a sip of his coffee, shifted Al enough to brace his forearm on the table, and kiss Kate's lips, tasting the vanilla of her latte.

Kate grabbed his ear and Al turned her eyes on him. A deadly tag-team that spoke together.

"Not your women."

His cries for mercy and the bright peel of their laughter shimmered in the air of the coffee shop.

Their coffee shop.

* * *

><p><em>Note from Logan: This is going to be emotional – I ask your indulgence. (Or you can skip right over this. I'm not your mother.)<em>

_First, to my summer flower, Pau. I can't remember the wording of the prompt that spawned this story (and believe me, I looked through my inbox messages on tumblr for it) but who knew, right? I will never, ever be able to thank you enough for trusting me with your little idea._

_Second, to my plucky sidekick, Jenn, for putting up with my incessant teasing of new chapters, my whining over parts that just refused to work with me, and for being there on twitter when I needed to rant. You're the best sidekick a gal could ask for (and I promise to make sure you don't go the path of other plucky sidekicks… you know, all dead and stuff)._

_Third, to everyone else who reviewed, favorited, and alerted Coffee Shop. I actually don't have the words to describe how humbled and grateful and amazed I am at the response to this story. (Which would make me a bad writer since we're supposed to have words for everything. But I really don't. I'll take the status as a bad writer for this case.) I'm blown away._

_I'm working on a sequel titled 'Young at Heart' and a little companion piece. School's back in swing so the daily updates that we all enjoyed over Spring Break will go away (unfortunately) but I'll still be around. Again, thank you from the very deepest well of my heart._


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